Fix a Leak Week celebrated in March

The Environmental Protection Agency in partnership with WaterSense celebrates annual Fix a Leak Week during the month of March. It is a time to remind everyone to check their household fixtures for leaks. The average household’s leaks can account for more than 10,000 gallons of water wasted every year, or the amount of water needed to wash 270 loads of laundry.

It is a time to remind everyone to check their household fixtures for leaks.

Here are some of their suggestions:

• A good method to check for leaks is to examine your winter water usage. It’s likely that a family of four has a serious leak problem if its winter water use exceeds 12,000 gallons per month.

• Check your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, you probably have a leak.

• One way to find out if you have a toilet leak is to place a drop of food coloring in the toilet tank. If the color shows up in the bowl within 15 minutes without flushing, you have a leak. Make sure to flush immediately after this experiment to avoid staining the tank.