When you’re in your bathroom grooming yourself, bathing, taking a shower, or brushing your teeth, do you constantly hear the sound of water rushing, trickling, or hissing? That’s usually a sign of a running toilet, which occurs when one or multiple parts in its tank fail to function properly.

Figuring out the root of the problem is challenging but it is necessary to ensure the best solution. For instance, if the issue is with the faulty flapper, you could consider replacing it with Danco’s HydroStop Toilet Tank Flapperless Alternative, which comes with a sturdy tower that drops solidly and vertically onto the opening of the flush valve to create an enhanced seal.

Besides the flapper, there could also be something wrong with the ballcock, fill valve, or the flush valve. In some cases, there may be issues with two or more components.

You really should not wait too long to repair a running toilet and make the necessary replacements to faulty parts. Otherwise, you are increasing the risk of problems like the following:

  1. Flooding in your bathroom

A running toilet may seem like a minor problem, but it can actually cause flooding. All the excess water could flood the septic tank, causing failure and saturation of the drain field. Getting all of that repaired can be expensive and the entire incident itself will no doubt be stressful. You can avoid all that hassle and the extra costs by getting your running toilet checked and repaired as soon as you detect the symptoms.

Flimsy rubber flappers are often the cause for continuously running water in the toilet. Because of their design, they can fail to create a proper seal onto the flush valve opening. According to the EPA, about 20 percent of all toilets leak as much as 200 gallons of water daily because of such flappers. Typical flappers are linked to the handle using a thin chain, which is prone to breakage and improper tension tangles.

Danco has a range of flappers made with durable and stronger stainless-steel cables and the patented Safe Toilet Overflow Protection (STOP) technology to prevent overflowing.

  1. Blockages

Is your toilet bowl unable to fill optimally? That’s usually one of the problems associated with a running toilet, and it results in the toilet being unable to flush properly. Weak flushes occur because there’s not enough water sent down the pipes. This means you would have to flush more, which results in wasting water every time. Moreover, you could be dealing with waste blocking the pipes.

Blockage can result to flooding within your drainage system, and this can result in unpleasant odors and a stressful, expensive fix. Avoid letting your toilet reaching that point by getting it fixed immediately.

If you need anything replaced, consider Danco’s HydroClean Universal Fill Valve. It is a water-saving fill valve that calibrates the amount of water that goes to the bowl as the tank refills itself. With this calibration, you can save more water. The innovative product is also capable of finding leaks and it will signal you when it does.

If you are using the Danco HydroStop Toilet Tank Flapperless Alternative, you can simply lift up on the handle to drop the tower and close the flush valve, in case of a clog. This prevents more water from draining into the bowl.

  1. Surprise costs on your water bill

Remember: You have to pay for all the water you use in your home. That includes the water in the toilet. So, if you let it run continuously, you could see a spike on your water bill. Besides, you are wasting a lot of water. It’s better to call a plumber to avoid those extra costs.

Do you want better ways to save water? Be sure to check out Danco HydroClean Water-Saving Toilet Fill Valve with a Cleaning Tube. It is designed to solve the two major causes of water loss in toilets: leaks and miscalibration. It calibrates easily to adjust the amount of water the tank needs to fill itself, allows quick refilling, and jet-cleans the tank. It also comes with leak detection and signals if it finds one. Danco designed it fit most standard toilets, with an adjustable height from 11 inches to 13.8 inches. Your plumber can easily install it without tools.