Finding and Fixing Leaks: A Simple but Important Water-Saving Task

The most important action you can take as a residential water consumer is maintaining a water-efficient home – inside and outdoors. By doing so, you minimize water waste and conserve energy, which then reduces your water and sewer costs.

When it comes to saving water, we must all do our part, and even small steps like fixing household leaks can have a significant impact, but sometimes it's hard to know exactly where to start and how to tell if your home is water efficient.

The AMWUA cities have worked hard to create multiple resources for residents and businesses to become more efficient and fix those leaks. They have professional staff  available to offer advice and insight into the simple process of finding and fixing leaks around your home and in your yard. 

One of those essential resources is the Smart Home Water Guide , which walks you through the step-by-step process of finding and fixing leaks that could be raising your water use and draining your budget. The Smart Home Water Guide is also available in Spanish - Guia Para Detectar Fugas .

The Smart Home Water Guide includes the following sections:

• How to read your water meter
• Outdoor visual leak inspection
• Indoor visual leak inspection
• Isolation method to find continuous (and less obvious) leaks
• Water efficiency around the home
• Glossary and resources

While we have a strong water conservation ethic here in the Valley, we can all use a friendly reminder to check for leaks and learn new ways to save water, and the EPA's Fix A Leak A Week seems like a perfect time to do so. Especially knowing that fixing common household leaks, including leaking toilet flappers, dripping faucets, irrigation sprinklers, and other leaking valves can help save ten percent or more water. And in the desert, every drop counts.

How water-efficient is your household?

Many things impact each household's unique water use, including the number of residents, if you have water-efficient appliances, your specific landscape choices, and even personal habits such as shower length. The AMWUA Water Use Calculator lets you enter detailed information about your household's water use habits. Then, based on your provided information, this tool will estimate how much water you need for optimal monthly water usage. And when you understand your monthly water use, a higher-than-average water bill can signal a leak or act as a simple reminder to practice water conservation regularly.

To print or save this week's blog, a PDF version is available HERE .

For over 50 years, Arizona Municipal Water Users Association has worked to protect our member cities' ability to provide assured, safe, and sustainable water supplies to their communities. For more water information, visit www.amwua.org .