Preventing and Identifying Plumbing Leaks, Part 1

If you’re dealing with a major recent rise in your water bill that you can’t connect to any other specific cause, you could be looking at leaks in your plumbing system. Due to the fact that several parts of this system are in areas you can’t easily see, it’s common for these kinds of leaks to build up over time and lead to slowly rising water bills.

At All Hours Plumbing, Heating & Air, we’re here to help you both avoid and manage these leaks to limit the potential for water damage and other issues. The first big step if you’re worried one has taken place is confirming that a leak is present, plus locating it – here are some simple steps to take, courtesy of our expert plumbers, as part of this two-part blog on plumbing leaks.

Water and Meter

Luckily, there are tools in your home that will easily help you check for the presence of leaks. The primary tool here is your water meter, which you should locate first. From here, go around the house and make sure none of your water is in use – all your faucets are turned off, the hot water heater is off, etc.

Now, return to your water meter and take a look. If the red dial that signals water pressure is still moving, it means water is still running somewhere – this is a sign that a leak is present somewhere in the system. For hard-to-find leaks, schedule SLC leak detection with All Hours.

Step-by-Step Turn-Offs

If you’ve indeed identified a leak present, it’s time to go about checking for where that leak might be. The first step is to check all your toilets, which you do by moving one-by-one to each toilet in the home and turning off the water. This is done using a simple shut-off valve that’s at the back of each toilet – our professionals are happy to help you find this if you need assistance.

With each toilet you get to, turn off the water and then return to the water meter. If the meter stops moving after a specific toilet turn-off, you know that toilet is the source of the leak.

Double-Checking

If you’ve moved through each toilet in your home using the manner above and the water meter is still moving, you know the leaks aren’t from any toilets. From here, move through the home again and do the same thing with the shut-off valves for the faucets and hose bibs in the house, returning to the water meter after each one to check it.

Night Reading

If you move through this entire process and still can’t identify a leak, you should at least consider the possibility that your initial reading was incorrect and no leak took place – perhaps because you forgot to turn off some section of water or a similar mistake was made. In this case, go through and shut off all your water around the house again, then take a reading at night.

Morning Reading

The following morning, check the reading again and compare it to the previous night. If it’s higher, despite you having used no water overnight, you have a leak. At this point, contact our plumbers to help you identify the source.

For more on identifying and preventing leaks in the plumbing system, or to schedule leak detection in Salt Lake City, speak to the pros at All Hours Plumbing, Heating & Air today.