Practice Finding and Fixing Water Leaks During Fix a Leak Week!

March 18 – 24 is Fix a Leak Week, a national campaign sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) WaterSense program. Stafford County Utilities encourages customers to check their homes and landscape irrigation systems for leaks this Fix a Leak Week to help save water. Americans can stop the more than 1 trillion gallons of water wasted from household leaks yearly by making fixes.

During Fix a Leak Week, Stafford reminds the community to help keep the water supply sustainable. You can do three steps this spring to save water: check, twist and replace.

  • CHECK for leaks. Look and listen for running toilets and dripping faucets, showerheads, sprinklers, spigots, and other fixtures.  Check their toilet for leaks. Some running toilets can be silent and can be a considerable cause of wasted water. To check if your toilet is leaking:
  1. Put a toilet leak detection dye tablet or three drops of green or blue food coloring into the top tank of your toilet and do not flush.
  2. If the color appears in the toilet bowl within a couple of hours, you have a leak.
  3. Don’t forget to flush the toilet afterward to remove any leftover dye.
  • TWIST and tighten hose and pipe connections. To save water in your bathroom without a noticeable difference in flow, twist on a WaterSense labeled faucet aerator. 
  • REPLACE the fixture if necessary. Look for WaterSense-labeled models. These models are independently certified to use 20 percent less water and perform as well as or better than standard models. 

There are a few more simple steps that can go a long way in saving water and money:

  • Check your water meter before and after two hours when no water is being used. If the meter changes at all, you probably have a leak.
  • Customers should briefly run their irrigation systems during the day to check for any broken sprinkler heads, detached drip lines, or other issues that may be causing leaks or water loss.
  • Examine faucet gaskets and pipe fittings for any water outside the pipe to check for surface leaks.

Stafford County Utilities urges customers to take 10 minutes this week to check for leaks and, if necessary, repair them. For a checklist to keep track of your search for leaks, take the EPA’s 10 Minute WaterSense Challenge. These small steps can help save money and allow customers to avoid wasting precious water supplies and incurring high water usage.