One trillion gallons of water are wasted each year through household water leaks. This is enough water for over 11 million homes nationwide. Often these leaks are a simple task for the average homeowner to remedy, requiring only a few tools. Every year, leaks in the average household waste nearly 10,000 gallons of water.
Here are some statistics on household water leaks from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency):
- A showerhead that drips at a rate of 10 drips per minute wastes more than 500 gallons every year. That’s the amount of water wash 60 loads of dishes in your dishwasher.
- It takes one drip per second for a leaky faucet to waste more than 3,000 gallons of water each year. That’s enough water for 180 showers!
- Home irrigation systems that leak 1/32nd of an inch in diameter (about the thickness of a dime) waste approximately 6,300 gallons of water per month.
- Fixing easily corrected household water leaks can cut homeowners’ water bill by about 10 percent.
To determine that your household is not one of the many wasting water and losing money, you can do a few things to see if there is a leak.
- Check your water usage during a colder winter month. If the usage is over 12,000 gallons per month for a family of four. You may have a leak somewhere in your system.
- During a two-hour period when there is no water being used, check your water meter. If the meter increases at all, there is likely a leak.
- Food coloring can be used to identify toilet leaks. Place a drop in the tank and do not flush. If color shows up in the bowl after 10 minutes, you have a leak.
- Check the faucet gaskets and pipe fittings for visible leaks outside the pipe. Water outside the pipe means a leak.
