Identifying and Resolving Toilet Leaks

SAN FRANCISCO — Toilet leaks waste water and money, but they aren’t always easy to identify. In fact, many households have leaky toilets that perpetually go unnoticed. The good news is this problem can usually be fixed quite easily. However, before you can fix it, you need to know if there’s a problem to begin with. That’s why it’s wise to test your toilets for leaks on a regular basis.

Testing a toilet for leaks requires almost no effort. All you have to do is insert a few drops of liquid dye or food coloring into the toilet’s tank. Come back in a couple of hours and look in the bowl—if you see color in the water, it means water is leaking from the tank into the bowl.

Typically, this type of leak is caused by an old flapper that’s no longer creating a tight seal. To fix it, simply purchase a new flapper at your local hardware store and replace the old one. Just make sure you get the correct type of flapper for your toilet—in fact, you may want to take the old one with you to the store to confirm it’s the correct type. In this case, you’ll need to turn off water to the toilet using the shut-off valve on the wall. After installing the new flapper, turn the valve back on and you should be all set.