urdrwho
Member
I'll get to my high water use after the story.
Last winter I installed a new Korky brand float valve in the basement toilet. It had a weird hissing sound but the water wasn't rising so I thought it was just annoying. In march I got tired of the annoying hissing, went and bought another one.....installed new one.......still hissed. Ok, I'll live with it.
Around July 2009 my water usage started to climb. Usual use for the three of us was 3,500 / sometimes 4,000. The August water invoice showed 6,000 gallons. Ok, maybe my son took too many long showers.
Each month the usage has increased. Last invoice was 10,000 gallons...yikes. This invoice showed 12,000 gallons. What is going on?
So yesterday I started the search. Shut off the supply to the house, checked the meter, meter shows no flow to home. Good - no leaks outside.
Turned the house main back on / checked meter, shows water flow. Hm?
Went in and turned water off to the basement toilet with the hissing Korky valve / checked meter, meter shows no flow.
Ok, that is weird because the water level is right on the line. Some food coloring in the tqank was in order. Waited, waited, waited, several hourse passed. No coloring in the bowel.
So maybe the new flapper valve is leaking. Turned off the valve to the toilet. Let the thing sit all night. In the morning the water is still right on the line.
For me to be using an extra 7,000 gallons a month from a leaking flapper valve, that tank should have been empty.
So the hissing of the Korky fill valve could just be air in the lines. Could the movement of the air through the lines cause the little meter dial to spin and therefore cause the meter numbers to move.
This is strange and I'm no newbie to this stuff. I've worked on maintenance crews, albeit that was 40 years ago but I am still mechanically inclined.
Have I paid several hundred dollars for air?
Last winter I installed a new Korky brand float valve in the basement toilet. It had a weird hissing sound but the water wasn't rising so I thought it was just annoying. In march I got tired of the annoying hissing, went and bought another one.....installed new one.......still hissed. Ok, I'll live with it.
Around July 2009 my water usage started to climb. Usual use for the three of us was 3,500 / sometimes 4,000. The August water invoice showed 6,000 gallons. Ok, maybe my son took too many long showers.
Each month the usage has increased. Last invoice was 10,000 gallons...yikes. This invoice showed 12,000 gallons. What is going on?
So yesterday I started the search. Shut off the supply to the house, checked the meter, meter shows no flow to home. Good - no leaks outside.
Turned the house main back on / checked meter, shows water flow. Hm?
Went in and turned water off to the basement toilet with the hissing Korky valve / checked meter, meter shows no flow.
Ok, that is weird because the water level is right on the line. Some food coloring in the tqank was in order. Waited, waited, waited, several hourse passed. No coloring in the bowel.
So maybe the new flapper valve is leaking. Turned off the valve to the toilet. Let the thing sit all night. In the morning the water is still right on the line.
For me to be using an extra 7,000 gallons a month from a leaking flapper valve, that tank should have been empty.
So the hissing of the Korky fill valve could just be air in the lines. Could the movement of the air through the lines cause the little meter dial to spin and therefore cause the meter numbers to move.
This is strange and I'm no newbie to this stuff. I've worked on maintenance crews, albeit that was 40 years ago but I am still mechanically inclined.
Have I paid several hundred dollars for air?
Last edited by a moderator: