• Your water shut-off valve is on your water service line, where it comes out of the
ground next to your home, or before it empties into your water heater.
• Close the valve. Check your water meter. If the meter does not move, the leak is
inside your home. If it does move, check your hose spigot, irrigation system and
pool because the leak is outside.
WaterSmart
2. Close Your Shut-Off Valve
3. Find Your Leak
Find it
Fix it
Toilets
Drop a 1/2 teaspoon of food coloring or
two dye tablets (ask your water district
if it provides them to customers) into
your toilet tank and wait 15 minutes.
If the color appears in the bowl, your
toilet leaks.
Close the valve behind the toilet and flush
to empty the tank. Remove the flapper
from its hinges at the bottom of the tank
and replace it.
Faucets,
Bathtubs and
Showerheads
Look for drips
Turn off water supply, disassemble the hot
and cold handles and remove the valve
cartridge in each handle. Take the valve
cartridges to the hardware store and ask
the staff to help you replace the valve
seats, springs, and o-rings.
Outdoor Spigot
Look for drips
Turn off the spigot. If the dripping
continues, replace the washer.
Sprinkler Head
Look for taller grass or plant growth
around heads.
Unscrew and replace sprinkler head. If
multiple heads leak, check to see if the
valve for that irrigation zone is leaking.
Irrigation Pipe
Look for wet spots in the grass, mud,
or erosion.
Turn off water in the leak zone. Use PVC
cutters to cut the pipe on each side of
leak. Use PVC primer to glue a slip coupler
on each end of exposed pipe, then
again to slip a new piece of pipe into
each coupler.
Pool or Spa
Fill a bucket with pool water and place
it on the deck next to the pool. Mark
the water level in the bucket and in the
pool with waterproof tape, turn the
pool circulation off and wait three days.
Mark the new water levels. The amount
of evaporation in the bucket and pool
should be the same. If the pool level
dropped farther, you may have a leak.
Contact a licensed pool
repair company.
19
