Save Water At Home With A Few Drops Of Food Coloring.

August 20th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under
Save Water At Home With A Few Drops Of Food Coloring.

Did you know that with just a few drops of food coloring, you can run a test that could save you up to 200 gallons of water a day? Inside the back of a toilet is something called a “flapper”, which is the valve that keeps the water in the storage tank separate from the toilet itself - at least until it is needed for flushing. But a leaky or loose flapper valve can cause your toilet to leak up to 200 gallons of water each and every day! And in addition to the wasted water, you are potentially wasting hundreds of dollars a year as well, so it really is worth doing this simple test to try to find any leaks.

Take the top off the back of your toilet and put in a few drops to a tablespoon of your favorite food coloring color. Put the lid back on and go find something to do for 15-20 minutes. When you come back, lift up the toilet seat and see if there is any of the food coloring in the bowl. If there isn’t, fantastic - you don’t have a leaky flapper valve! But if you see color in the bowl, you could be wasting hundreds of gallons of water a day. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to replace the flapper valve - I have done it myself several times and it only costs a few bucks. If you need help figuring out how to replace it, check out some of these links:

Lowe’s Simple Toilet Repairs

Do It Yourself - How To Repair A Toilet

Do your wallet and your water table a favor and check your house for leaky toilets!

Photo by me’nthedogs

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There Are 2 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by jim of Blueprint for Financial Prosperity on 20 August 2008:

    My friend recently discovered a leak in his toilet that had gone on for a few weeks, his bill was early a hundred dollars higher for the month on a bill that is normally a fraction of that. This tip is both easy and high return, good idea man.

  2. Comment by Water Saver Guy on 19 February 2009:

    A leaky flapper can just be one of the problems.

    Check the fill valve adjustment to make sure it is not over filling the toilet and allowing the water to run back down the overflow valve.

    An overflow valve leak can add from 1 to 25 percent to your water bill. To check for a leak, place talcum powder inside the tank. If you see the powder disappear into the overflow valve, you have a leak. To fix it, set the tank fill level to 1 inch below the overflow tube.

    If you would like to save even more water and want to put your repair money to better use by saving water and more money in the future change from a flappper valve to a dual flush valve I found this information at: http://www.dualflushkit.com/

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