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What Your Leaky Faucet Really Costs

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Melbourne Plumber

Leaky faucets are not only annoying, but they can cost you a lot of money over time. Even the smallest of leaks can really add up. Take for instance a faucet that leaks once a minute, that adds up to 1,440 drips a day. It may not sound like much, but over just one year it adds up to a whopping 34 gallons. Take a minute to think about that and visualize 34 gallons in front of you. Pretty amazing.

Two leaky faucets which might drip 10 times each minute would mean you were losing more than a gallon a day, or 694 gallons each year. The bad thing is that many faucets that leak will lose much more water than this. A really leaky faucet can lose up to five gallons in one day or what is the equivalent over a year of 2,082 gallons. That results in a serious increase in your water bill over time; something you don’t want to visualize.

The U.S. Geologic Survey has a neat calculator that can tell you how much water your home is losing due to leaky faucets. You can find it at http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/sc4.html. Plug in some numbers for your home and see what a difference a leaky faucet can make. What may seem like a little problem you can put off may really be leading to a much larger one. The sooner you contact a plumber to fix the leak, the better. Not only will you save money over time, but your faucet will work more efficiently.

Leaky faucets are not only bad for your water bill, but they are bad for the environment. This is especially true for people in drier climates or when rainfall is down more than usual in wetter areas. If water is wasted and not conserved the environment has a harder time replenishing it. For people who are really serious about conserving water, there are numerous low flow water fixtures that can be installed in your home by any qualified plumbing professional.

To save homeowners from the annoyance of leaky faucets and higher water bills, a plumber should be contacted to fix any leaks. If the problem is an old faucet or shower head it should be replaced as soon as possible. This is something a plumber can do, resulting in lower water bills immediately and helping out our environment. It’s a win-win situation when you call a plumber to fix any leaks you may have or to install some environmentally friendly low-flow water fixtures, such as toilets and shower heads.