A running toilet is not only annoying, but it also increases your water bill. You could turn off the water supply to the toilet, but this means that you cannot flush the toilet. Here are three reasons why your toilet could be running constantly and what you can do to fix the problem.
1. Flapper Is Not Sealing
Remove the cover from the back of your toilet and look at the bottom of the tank. The flexible rubber cover around the drain hole is the flapper. Use a long stick to gently press the side of the flapper. If the water stops running in the toilet, you have a faulty flapper. You should move the stick around the edge of the flapper to test the entire seal around the drain hole. You can easily replace the flapper by turning off the water to the toilet and draining the tank. Remove the flapper and small chain. Position the new flapper over the drain hold, attach the clips and hook the chain to the flush lever.
2. Overflow Pipe Needs to Be Adjusted
The small tube next to the flapper is the overflow pipe. The tube drains excess water from the tank to prevent flooding your bathroom. If the tube is too short, the toilet will continue to run. You need to adjust the water level that is stored inside the tank by adjusting the screw on the overflow valve to the left of the tube.
3. Faulty Fill Valve
The fill valve is located to the left of the overflow pipe. Look for signs of dripping, spraying or other signs of leaking around the valve. You may also see water dripping along the small fill tube that runs into the overflow pipe. If the fill valve is leaking, it will need to be replaced. Detach the water supply line from the outside of the tank and loosen the lock nut at the bottom of the fill valve inside the tank. Insert the new fill valve in the tank, tighten the lock nut, and then reattach the water supply line.
FloHawks in Puyallup, WA, specializes in residential and commercial plumbing, including septic systems. Contact us today for more information.
