How To Find A Water Leak

Step by Step Directions:

1. Your water meter can confirm your suspicions about a hidden leak.
2. Shut off all water-using appliances and faucets in your house. Ask household members to refrain from flushing the toilet for a little while.
3. Once no water should be in use, go to your meter outside and write down the numbers.
4. Wait one hour and check the meter again.
5. If the numbers have changed, then water is flowing through a leak somewhere in your system.
6. Inspect the walls, floors, and ceilings throughout your house.
7. Look for water stains, puddles, peeling paint, or bubbling wallpaper.
8. You may want to get a digital water leak detector to help you inspect walls. Its measurements could help you know if drywall needs to be torn out to inspect the pipes within.
9. Feel inside the cabinets under your bathroom and kitchen sinks. A leak under a sink could be dripping out of sight inside the cabinetry.
10. A faucet or drain could be leaking in any number of places. A plumber from Oliver could replace the failing parts.
11. Look around your hot water heater and washing machine for wet areas.
12. Check the floor around and underneath your dishwasher and bathtub.
13. Now it’s time to check the toilets. Toilets are notorious for wasting water when their internal parts wear out.
14. Take the lid off the toilet tank.
15. Look at the chain that connects the handle to the flapper. Confirm that it is not holding the flapper open slightly.
16. If the chain seems OK, squirt some food coloring into the tank and wait.
17. Do NOT flush the toilet but watch the bowl to see if any color seeps into it. If the food coloring enters the bowl, then you need a new flapper inside the tank.

Is The Leak In Your Yard?

There’s a possibility that water is leaking into your yard if you have an irrigation system. Halt irrigation for a while and then observe if any areas are staying green. A lush area of the lawn indicates that water is leaking into the ground from a broken pipe. If you don’t have in-ground irrigation, the supply line coming from the water main to your house might have broken. Such a leak could produce a greener area or form puddles. Sodden soil could even start to leach moisture into your basement. Oliver can inspect your underground water and sewer lines for problems.