If you have water leaks in your house, you must immediately resolve the problems because the leak in your water line can be costly on water and sewer billings. Even though if you think that it is only a small leak, it will always add up to gallons of wasted water if left unattended. Sometimes small leaks are difficult for you to notice but by doing some simple testing technique on your own you would be able to detect water leaks in your house before you can either fix it yourself or even hire professional or plumber to fix the problems. Below are some of the steps or do-it-yourself method that you can learn in order to check for water leaks in your home.
To find water leaks in a house, you need:
- Screwdriver
- To turned off all water-using appliances
- To check the meter box
- To turned off the main shut-off valve
- To test for water leaks from your house faucet
- To check and flush your toilet
- Repair tools and items (optional)
Learn to Find Water Leaks in House
How to Find Water Leaks in your Home
- First step that you need to do is to make sure that all water-using appliances have been turned off and no water is being used the moment you start to do the checking.
- You need to turn off all the water connection from the inside and also outside of your house which include showers, sinks, washing machines and other appliance that uses water.
- For those of you who have a sprinkler irrigation system, you must also turn off its controller before manually shut off its two valves located at the double check valve assembly (DCVA) in order to isolate the irrigation system.
- You need to turn off all the water connection from the inside and also outside of your house which include showers, sinks, washing machines and other appliance that uses water.
- Then, go to the meter box and take the lid off and lift its protective cover.
- You will notice that you water meter consist of a triangular red or silver along with black round disc known as a “leak indicator”.
- If the “leak indicator” is spinning, that means you are having some leaking problems to your water line. However, if you find that there is no indicator and the actual meter dial hand shows that it is moving, that means that your water is running within your system and you might have leaking problems. If this happens, you need to proceed to the third step mentioned below.
- As for meter dial hand which is not moving, you need to take note of the position of the hand and wait for at least 10 minutes. After that, you need to check the meter again and if you notice that it is moving, it indicates that you are having a slow leak and should proceed to the third step mentioned below.
- You will notice that you water meter consist of a triangular red or silver along with black round disc known as a “leak indicator”.
- The third step is for you to locate the main shut-off valve linking to your house which is normally located right next to your meter box.
- Next, turn off the valve before you turn on the faucet inside your home to further test for water leaks.
- If you find that the water still flows from the faucet that you test after several seconds, that means your shut off valve is not working properly. It is in good condition if there is no water flows coming through your faucet.
- Next, turn off the valve before you turn on the faucet inside your home to further test for water leaks.
- If you find that the leak indicator or dial hand of your water meter is still moving even though you have shut off your water valve.
- This shows that you are having leaks between the meter and the customer-side of the shut-off valve.
- If the leak indicator or dial hand of your water meter is not moving, then you would probably be having water leakage between the customer-side shut-off valve and also anywhere inside your house such as the toilets, washing machines or faucets.
- This shows that you are having leaks between the meter and the customer-side of the shut-off valve.
- In order for you to check for leaks in the toilet, you need to flush the toilet.
- As the reservoir is filling water into the reservoir, you need to add 2 or 3 drops of food coloring into the water inside the reservoir.
- After that, you should wait for at least 15 to 30 minutes. If you find that the water in your toilet bowl is changing colors, most probably you need to change the flapper valve.
- As the reservoir is filling water into the reservoir, you need to add 2 or 3 drops of food coloring into the water inside the reservoir.
- Another place that you should check is the pressure relief valve of your hot water tank because these valves are designed to plumbed directly into your nearest drain and it might be having leaking problems.
- If there is leaking problem, you would be able to hear a hissing sound during the checking.
Always remember that whenever you want to find water leaks in your home,
- Apart from locating the leakage problem along with the tightening of loose components of your water line, you might also need to consult a professional plumber to check and fix your leaking problems.
- If you are unable to find the exact location of your water leakage, you need to hire professional plumbers because they normally have a listening device in order to detect and locate the exact location of water leaks.
- If there is leaking problem, you would be able to hear a hissing sound during the checking.
