Overheard a guy at the hardware store complain about his water bill

I was grabbing some fittings yesterday and this dude was telling his buddy his water bill jumped from $45 to $120 in two months. He said he finally called the city and they told him his toilet flapper was running nonstop. I realized right there how small leaks can wreck a budget without you noticing. Had me checking all my own toilets when I got home, found one dripping enough to waste maybe 15 gallons a day. Has anyone else caught a hidden expense like that before it got out of hand?

2 comments

2 Comments

joelp819d ago

Wait, 15 gallons a day just from a drip? That seems high unless it was actually a steady stream. Even a slow drip is more like 2-5 gallons a day in my experience. But yeah, the toilet flapper thing is real. I had a neighbor whose bill jumped $80 and it turned out the flapper was stuck open just a tiny bit, letting water trickle down all night. He never heard it because the toilet was in the basement. The scary part is how quiet these leaks can be.

the_drew8d ago

Respectfully gotta disagree on the numbers. A fast drip every second adds up to about 5 gallons a day, sure. But if you've got a toilet that's silently trickling, that's way more than a drip. I had one in my old house that was barely making a sound, just a tiny stream you could see if you held a flashlight to the bowl. That thing wasted 20+ gallons a day easy, and I only caught it because the water bill was crazy. So 15 gallons from a hidden toilet trickle feels totally possible to me, especially if the flapper is just a little off.