People tend to take sudden, big water leaks seriously and get emergency plumbing help right away. If pipes freeze and burst, or a fixture breaks off after years of slowly rusting, you could have major gushes of water. But this isn’t the only kind of plumbing leak.
The majority of plumbing leaks are actually the kind that are easier to ignore, or at least postpone dealing with. They’re slow leaks, just a little bit of water at a time. But they can still cause damage, and they still waste a lot of water!
How much water can a plumbing leak waste? What should you do to fix it? How can you avoid plumbing leaks in the future? We’ve got the answers.
Water Waste
According to the USGS (United States Geological Survey), the average American home allows a shocking amount of water to be wasted. Their estimate is 180 gallons of water per week! This adds up to nearly ten thousand gallons of wasted water every year. How can this much water be wasted without people realizing?
The answer is that small amounts of water add up faster than you probably imagine. One gallon of water is 15,140 drips, again according to the USGS. That means that just ten drips a minute, one every six seconds, will add up to most of a gallon in a day.
Now imagine that you’ve got water dripping from multiple fixtures, your garden hose, your sprinkler, perhaps even your water heater. Imagine that just one of these places is dripping more quickly than the others. It starts to make sense that many gallons of water will go to waste each week.
How to Address Plumbing Leaks
Since that slow rate of ten drips per minute could lead to nearly a gallon of water ending up in a place it doesn’t belong, you can’t postpone plumbing repair without risking major water damage to your home. If you can’t get an appointment with a plumber soon enough, or if the leak is one of the sudden gushing ones mentioned above, you’ll want to shut off that water so it doesn’t cause serious problems in your home.
Each fixture has its own shutoff valve. It’s a good idea to go on a little expedition at a time when you don’t have an emergency and familiarize yourself with these valves throughout your home. If you can’t shut off the water to the specific spot where the leak is, you can shut off all the water, at the point where it enters your home, with the main shut-off valve. Then get professional plumbing help ASAP.
Prevent Future Plumbing Leaks
A preventive plumbing inspection is always a good idea if you’ve never had one done if it’s been several years, if your home is older, or if you have any specific concerns. Your plumber can help determine what pipes or fixtures are at highest risk of failure and help you take steps to protect them or replace them.
When you need a plumber in Lansdale, PA, we’ve got you covered.
Contact Platinum Plumbing & Heating, Inc. today to schedule an appointment with our pros.