You have probably heard it before: late at night, when the house is quiet, you hear a faint hissing sound coming from the bathroom. Or maybe you hear the toilet suddenly refill itself, even though nobody has used it in hours.
We call this “Phantom Flushing.” It is easy to ignore because there is no water on the floor, and the toilet still works fine. But ignoring a running toilet is one of the most expensive mistakes a Burley homeowner can make.
At Sunrise Plumbing, we have seen running toilets waste more water in a month than a family uses for showering. Here is why it happens and how to stop the drain on your wallet.
The Real Cost of a “Small” Leak
A running toilet is essentially an open faucet. Even a medium-sized internal leak can waste up to 200 gallons of water per day. That is 6,000 gallons a month.
If you are on city water in Burley or dealing with a septic system in the county, that wasted water adds up. You are either paying for it on your utility bill or needlessly stressing your septic leach field.
The Usual Suspect: The Flapper
90% of the time, the culprit is a small rubber part called the flapper. This is the seal at the bottom of the tank that lifts up when you push the handle.
Remember our hard water? The minerals in our local water supply attack the rubber over time, causing it to warp, harden, or blister. Once the seal isn’t perfect, water slowly trickles from the tank into the bowl. When the water level in the tank drops low enough, the float drops, and the toilet turns on to refill itself.
The 10-Minute “Food Dye” Test
Not sure if your toilet is leaking? Here is a simple trick you can do right now without any tools.
- Take the lid off the toilet tank.
- Put 10 drops of dark food coloring (red or blue works best) into the tank water.
- Do not flush. Wait about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Look at the water in the toilet bowl.
If the water in the bowl has turned blue or red, you have a leak. The colored water from the tank is seeping past the flapper.
Should You Jiggle the Handle or Call a Pro?
Replacing a flapper sounds like an easy DIY job, but universal parts often don’t fit older toilets correctly. Sometimes the problem isn’t the flapper at all—it could be a corroded flush valve seat or a broken fill valve.
If you have to “jiggle the handle” to get the toilet to stop running, it’s time to fix it for good.
Stop flushing money down the drain. Call Sunrise Plumbing at +1 208-312-0041. We carry high-quality repair parts that withstand our local water conditions, ensuring your toilet stays quiet and your bill stays low.