Saving money on your monthly water bill should be a focus year round, but summer usually requires more water usage in most homes. Children are home from school, lawns and flower beds need regular watering, vacations, 3 day weekends – all are factors in the rising water bills during summer months. If you have a leaky shower or toilet, that bill can quickly get out of hand.

Read on to learn how to repair those leaks, saving you money and reducing your water usage.

Leaky Tub/Shower

The drip-drip-drip of a leaky tub/shower faucet can be enough to drive anyone mad. The problem with a leaky faucet, however, goes beyond the annoyance it causes. When you think about the cost of a single drop of water, it really might not seem like such a big deal. If your shower or tub faucet is continually dripping, you may not realize that you could be wasting almost 700 gallons of water a year. If you live in an area that charges for residential water you are literally washing money down the drain. It’s important to fix that leaky faucet as soon as possible. This will not only relieve the annoyance of the drip but will also save valuable resources and money.

A leaky shower or tub faucet may be caused by 1 of 2 things. The faucet itself may be damaged, or the stem/cartridge inside is damaged. Either of these issues involves a fairly simple process to repair that you can easily do yourself.

If you have a single handle faucet, the Danco Trim Kit for Delta or the Danco Trim Kit for Moen may be the right choice for you to replace your existing trim and upgrade the look of your fixtures. These shower valve trim kits allow you to replace your existing worn-out shower trim in an easy way without having to replace the valve. The kits also have BILT 3D Interactive Instructions to walk you through your install step by step.

If you have a 2 or 3 handle faucet, Danco has remodeling kits in a variety of models and finishes that are sure to complement your existing bathroom fixtures. A few options include the 2-Handle Kohler Rebuild Kit, the 3-Handle Remodeling Kit for Price Pfister Verve and the 3-Handle Remodeling Kit for Gerber. You can also find How To Videos on the Danco Youtube Page to help you complete this DIY Project. 

If there is no damage to the shower/tub trim, the leak may be caused by a damaged faucet stem or cartridge. Replacing the stem or cartridge is easy, and offers an inexpensive way to stop the leak – reducing water waste and saving you water money. Danco has stems or cartridges for most tub/shower faucets and luckily, with Danco’s new AI Partfinder tool, it is easier than ever to find the right replacement part in just 3 simple steps. 

Leaky Toilet 

Water from the toilet runs straight into the sewer line, so you may not even realize you have a leak until you get your water bill. A toilet that is constantly running can waste about eight gallons of water an hour. That’s 200 gallons of water every day! Depending on your rates for water and sewer, this could increase your monthly bill by as much as $70.

You can easily check your toilet for leaks in 3 simple steps:

  • Check the water level in the tank.

Remove the toilet tank lid to check the water level in the tank. There should be a line on the interior side or back of the tank that indicates the appropriate water level, and is usually marked “water line”. If you see the water level is below or above this line, you’ll need to adjust the fill valve to ensure the water level inside the tank is correct.

  • Conduct a food coloring test.

Add 15-20 drops of food coloring to the water inside the tank. Make sure it is enough to visibly change the color of the water, and then wait 30 minutes.

  • Check the water in the toilet bowl for color.

When 30 minutes have passed, check the color of the water inside the toilet bowl. If the dye has changed the color of the water, you have a leak at the flapper or there is a crack in the overflow tube that needs to be repaired.

If a faulty flapper is a culprit, Danco has a flapperless solution in the HydroStop that was made specifically to eliminate problems caused by damaged flappers. If a damaged flapper is not the cause, it may be time to replace the wax ring. The Perfect Seal Toilet Wax Ring provides a simple solution if the wax ring is the cause of the leak, as it accommodates above or below the floor flanges and maintains a tight seal, even if floor movement occurs. 

Maybe you don’t have a leaking toilet but are looking for ways to save water and make your toilet more efficient. You can convert your standard toilet into a 2-button dual flush toilet using the HydroRight Dual Flush Valve, available with a push button or lever style handle. For even more efficiency, the HydroRight Water Saving Total Repair Kit (available with a push button or lever style handle), in addition to the dual flush valve, can also be adjusted to the exact amount of water necessary, detect leaks, and clean your toilet tank. 

Every homeowner wants a bathroom that functions efficiently to save water resources and money. Danco is one of the largest plumbing repair, replacement, and remodel suppliers in the home improvement industry. We focus largely on empowering ‘Do-It-Yourself’ consumers with plumbing solutions that are as practical as they are affordable, giving your home a more fresh appeal and renewed elegance.