David Schwartz
One in five toilets has a leak!
While that number may surprise you, the fact of the matter is that new leaks are constantly occurring—and your tenants won’t always know that they are.
Couple this with the fact that water costs have increased by 200% over the past 15 years, and you have a problem you can’t afford to ignore.
Running toilets can have different speeds at which they cost you money. Here's more details on how much water running toilets use.
- The Profit Thief: Water Leaks
- How Leaks Start
- How Much Water Do Running Toilets Use?
- Toilet Leak Prevention
- Spotting & Fixing Your Leaks
The Profit Thief: Water Leaks
As the water sneaks out, so do your chances of saving money on utilities. Luckily, there are water saving products for multi-family buildings!
The EPA estimates that toilet flushes account for nearly 30 percent of your average water consumption per day. And that’s when it’s working correctly.
A leaking toilet can lead to a thousand of lost gallons every month, making identification vital.
How Leaks Start
The cause of most leaks lies in the factory parts of the toilet. As a toilet gets older, the cheap rubber parts inside will wear down, limiting their functionality.
The most common problem parts are:
- Damaged seals
- Gaps from the flush valve
- Flush valves with small cuts
- Fill valves that remain open
All of these parts are affordable when replaced on a single toilet and can be done immediately to avoid leaks altogether. This causes two problems for property managers, though.
First, the parts may be working fine at the time, resulting in unnecessary expenses. Second, if you do need to make the purchase, the cost adds up over hundreds of units.
Additionally, a lot of the parts will corrode faster when introduced to different toilet cleaners. Even chlorine can be enough to wear down flappers.
Because pressure builds up in water systems at night when fewer tenants are using water, the floating balls in tanks will position so they’re open. They’ll be constantly trying to relieve pressure in order to close, meaning many gallons wasted every night.
How Much Water Do Running Toilets Use?
Running toilets can have different speeds at which they cost you money. A slow leak can waste 30 gallons a day while keeping you oblivious to the problem. A medium leak, on the other hand, is more noticeable and will go through roughly 250 gallons and $3.30 a day.
The worst case is a large leak, where your toilet operates a constant flow of water, spending up to 4,000 gallons and adding a potential $53 to your bill every day.
With the average cost of water in New York City being $3.99 per 100 cubic feet (748 gallons), the importance of identifying leaks climbs with every unit you manage.
Toilet Leak Prevention
Unlike other leak detection solutions in the market, the Toilet Scrooge™ leak prevention device doesn't just detect leaks - it actually prevents them (the perfectly engineered solution)!
The Toilet Scrooge™ device uses a motion sensor that activates when a user is present. The sensor tells the valve when to open and when to close. When a user is present, the sensor allows water to flow to the toilet and after the user leaves, the valve closes, preventing continuous water flow. No water flow means no continuous leaking!
Not to mention, you never have to worry about battery maintenance - yup, that's what we said! The Toilet Scrooge™ leak prevention device uses a miniature water wheel, which harvests energy when it's used to keep it powered. Simply tie it into your flow of water and start saving water (money)!
Spotting & Fixing Your Leaks
The easiest way to spot leaks is to install our innovative solution, the Toilet Scrooge™. It’ll give you wireless updates when a toilet leaks, letting you know exactly which unit has an issue.
The Toilet Scrooge is so effective, it helped save the Parkchester Condominiums over $2.3 million on their annual water bill, lowering each unit’s water expenses by nearly $260 over the year.
A running toilet isn’t something anyone wants to deal with, but when you’re responsible for managing hundreds of potential leaks, conserving water with cost effective alternatives can come in handy.
Ask about our Water Consulting services!
About The Water Scrooge™
The Water Scrooge™ offers water conservation ways and products to multi-family landlords and homeowners, including: shower flow controllers, Leak Detection Systems, Toilet Leak Prevention Devices (The Toilet Scrooge™), water flow management devices (SMART Valve™), toilet calibration and DIY products.
Also featuring The Water Scrooge™ App. Our app empowers your team to carry out the installation of our kits. With it, you can also record and track data points about the units (other than water usage).