How to Test Your Toilet for Leaks

Toilet leaks are actually easy to repair. However, determining that your toilet is leaking can pose a challenge. Toilet leaks are not always obvious. They are often silent, unlike faucet leaks. If you got your most recent water bill and it’s too high and you’re sure that your faucets and showers at home are not leaking, a leaking toilet might be the culprit.

If you suspect that your toilet might be leaking, you can try any of these tests to find out for sure.

Ways to Check and Test a Toilet for Leaks

There are several ways to check for toilet leaks. Here are some:

1. The Color Test

The easiest way to test your toilet for leaks is to drop a dye tablet or food coloring into the toilet tank. Leave it in for 15 to 20 minutes. Do not use the toilet while waiting. Then, look at the toilet bowl (not the tank). Did the color somehow made it to the toilet? There’s no doubt about it—you have a leaking toilet.

2. Listen for a hissing or dripping sound.

If you don’t have a dye tablet or food coloring readily available and you can’t wait before you can buy on, you can simply listen for any noise coming from your toilet. Can you hear a soft and quiet running water sound? Can you hear a hissing sound? These mean that there are issues in the toilet’s flushing mechanism—either a flapper valve that needs adjusting or a damaged fill valve.

3. Cut the water off to the toilet in question.

If the two other tests failed to determine a leak of you want to be thoroughly sure that a toilet you’re observing is not leaking, here’s the ultimate test. Shut the water off to the toilet in question before you go to sleep. In the morning, check if the water in the tank emptied or if there’s only an inch of water left. If so, then the toilet is leaking. 

Handyman Connection of Matthews can help you with any plumbing problem that you may have, from leaky toilets to burst pipes. Contact us today at (704) 255-5626 or fill out our contact form to request an inspection and estimate.