Tips on identifying a leaking toilet
A leaking toilet can not only be annoying (listening to water dripping 24/7 is enough to send you a little bonkers), but if not identified and fixed early, it can also increase your water bills. Calling your plumber is the best way to deal with the problem, but what if you aren’t sure that you have a leak, just a suspicion?
An easy way to identify a slowly leaking toilet
The easy way to determine whether your toilet has a slow leak is to add some red or blue food colouring to the cistern, wait for 30 minutes and then check the toilet bowl. If you see that the water has changed colour, then you know you have a slow leak.
How to fix a leaking toilet
- Check the outlet valve: This is the device that lifts up to let the water enter the toilet bowl. It can sometimes be misaligned slightly or the arm that raises and lowers it can be caught on something that stops it fully closing. Clean it and reset it, or even replace the rubber seal and see if this fixes your leaking toilet.
- Check the inlet valve: If the inlet valve isn’t closing properly it can cause a slow leak into the toilet bowl, so lift the float up and if that stops the leak, you have found your problem. You might need to adjust the level of the valve, replace the washers in the valve, or call your plumber who can have it done in a jiffy.
- Check the flush pipe seal: This is the seal between the cistern and the bowl and is a bigger job than the others mentioned above, so you might prefer to leave it to your local plumber to fix.
If you’ve done all of the above and you still haven’t found the cause of your leaking toilet, you might want to call us on 07 3297 6517 or send us an email and we can rectify the problem quickly for you.
