Water leaks can happen in all different places throughout your house. The main problem is that leaks drain water you could have used, wasting both precious water and precious money. To make sure you don't have a leak, even if there isn't an apparent one, here are some precautions to take.
Humidifiers
Some houses have whole house humidifiers that require a constant water supply. They're usually found in houses with forced-air central heating systems. The humidifier usually comes with an overflow drain that carries water straight to the sewer once the refill valve fails to close. This causes the majority of leaks with homes that have whole house humidifiers. When the refill valve does fail to close, you can lose gallons of water at a time straight into your sewer for years and years.
Whole House Meter Check
If your house doesn't have a whole house humidifier, or even if it does and you just want to be sure there aren't any other sources of leakage, a whole house meter check is advised. This is actually very easy to do. First, turn off all water in the house both inside and outside. Only do this manually, so that water coming out through leaks can still get out. Don't use any water – don't flush the toilet, don't run the dishwasher, don't even use the ice machine.
Just after you do this, record the reading of your water meter. Wait 20 minutes. Don't use any water at this time. This should be at a convenient time for everyone so that it doesn't cause any hassle to other occupants. Now, after your 20 minutes is up, record your water meter once more. If it shows that water has been used during the time that none of the occupants used water, then you almost assuredly have a leak to deal with.
Additionally, if you can't fix a leak right away, multiply how much water usage you'll be wasting with a leak. You can do this by multiplying the amount of water wasted in the 20 minute period by 2,016. If you calculate that the wasted water costs more than it would to just fix the leak, it might be better to go ahead and pay to have the leak repaired.
The best way to ensure that you don't have any leaks within the house is to contact your local plumber regularly and get routine maintenance on your plumbing and water systems. You can then check for leaks, and also any other potential problems relating to these essential systems. In the end, this will save you a lot of money, stress, and hassle.
It can be difficult to locate where a leak is in the complex systems of your house's plumbing and water. However, by doing checks yourself, getting your local plumber to help you, and not waiting before it's too late, you can make sure that you won't get an annoying leak increasing your water bill each month.