You’re in bed, reading a book or watching TV. Suddenly, you pick up on this sound from the other room. Drip…drip…drip…
It’s one of your faucets, and the sound will slowly drive you crazy.
How much water do you lose to a leaky faucet? According to the US Geological Survey, if a faucet drips three times a minute, you lose one liter of water per day or 104 gallons per year.
If two faucets drip three times a minute, it adds up to 8,640 drips daily or 208 gallons per year.
Here are the most common reasons your faucet can leak:
- Faucet components start to wear out. There are as many types of cartridges, valves and seals as there are varieties of faucets. This can make fixing the leak yourself tricky or even expensive.
- Water pressure may be the culprit, particularly if you hear dripping only at certain times. com said high water pressure “can prevent water from flowing away from a certain point.” In other words, it can back up and leak out elsewhere. This often is fixed by reducing your water pressure.
- Broken plumbing. If your faucet drips, there may be a broken pipe or fitting. Pipes can develop cracks that cause the intolerable drip, drip, drip…
The Environmental Protection Agency advises to check your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is used. The two numbers should be the same. If not, you likely have a water leak.
Is your faucet leaking and you’re not sure why? Or you know why, but have no idea how to fix it? Give us a call at Eyman Plumbing, 402-731-2727.
To put those annoying drips to rest, we can help.
