Finding a leak
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Follow these tips to find water wasters around your
home. Locating a leak is a process of elimination. First, make sure no water
is being used inside or outside of your home. Turn off dishwashers, washing
machines and sprinkler systems. Locate
your water meter
About 90 percent of all area residential water
meters are located in the front sidewalk. The first step is to check
your water meter for movement. Look at the top of the meter. You'll notice
a triangle called a flow indicator. It'll move whenever water is
passing through it.
If all the water is off in your home and the triangle
is moving, then you have a leak.
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| If the small red triangle on your meter is moving
after you shut off all water in your home, you may have a leak. |
Check your toilets
Shut off one toilet at a time by turning the knob at the wall. After you
shut off a toilet, go out to the water meter and check your flow indicator.
If the small, red flow-indicator triangle has stopped moving, you've found
the water waster. If it is still moving, that toilet is not the problem.
Something else is causing a leak. Check all the toilets.
Check your sprinkler system
Shut off the anti-siphon valve that serves your sprinkler system. Check
the red flow-indicator triangle at the water meter. If the flow indicator
stopped moving, the sprinkler system is the problem. It it's still moving,
something else is causing the leak.
Check your water softener
Most softeners have a bypass lever. Turn the lever to allow water to bypass
the softener. Check the red flow-indicator triangle at the meter. If the
triangle is no longer moving, you have isolated the leak to your softener.
(You also can check for leaking swamp coolers, water-cooled air conditioners,
ice machines and reverse osmosis units by turning the bypass lever on
each and checking the meter.)
Check your main service line
First, you need to find your water shutoff valve. This is usually in your
front yard near the sewer riser cap, in your garage or near your water
softener unit. Shut off the valve, cutting off all water to your home,
and go in the house and turn on a faucet to make sure the water is off.
Check the red flow-indicator triangle at the meter. If the red triangle
is moving, the leak is between the shutoff valve and the water meter.
Now what?
First, close the water meter cap to prevent damage to the lens and replace
the meter box lid. If you are not able to find the leak, you should call
a professional plumber to locate and fix the leak(s). If you find a simple
leak like your toilet flapper or kitchen faucet, you may want to fix the
problem yourself.
For more information, call the Conservation
Helpline at 258-SAVE.
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