Have you ever noticed the sound of running water persistently coming from your toilet? Often, it takes us a while to notice it. After all, toilets need to have running water to refill the tank after any flush. However, if you notice that the running water persists long after a flush, there’s a problem that needs to be looked at.
If your toilet keeps running like that, you’re going to find yourself wasting a lot of water. Additionally, you’re going to disrupted by the extra noise, and you’re going to get a lot less pressure on the flushes.
Fortunately, this is almost always a very simple thing to fix. 80% of the time, the culprit is a problem with the flapper. The flapper is a little rubber plug that “flaps” over the toilet tank’s exit tube to allow the tank to fill up with water standing by for the next flush. Sometimes, the flapper is caught open by a chain, or deterioration and hard-water buildup gets in the way of an effective seal. Here are some tips to help you troubleshoot the problem and take care of it yourself:
Empty the Tank
To make it easier to do any of the steps below, you’ll want to empty the toilet tank. Turn off the water to the tank (usually a simple twist valve) and then hold down the flush handle until the tank has emptied.
Check the Chain
The first, and most simple thing to do is to check the chain which pulls the flapper up. Sometimes, this chain can be too long, which causes it to get tangled, or to get sucked down the hole which the flapper is meant to cover. If the chain is too long, it’s a simple thing to trim and shorten the chain. Additionally, you might need to clean the chain to make sure that it has the flexibility to do its job.
Clean the Flapper
If the problem isn’t with the chain, it’s time to take a closer look at the flapper itself. If you have a chlorine tablet in the tank, or something else meant to keep the water clean, you could be contributing to early deterioration of the flapper, which will get hard and dried out in that kind of water. Remove the flapper and wipe it down to remove calcium buildup and any debris. Also remember to check the bottom of the seal for anything else that could be interrupting the seal.
Replace the Flapper
This might seem like a complicated fix to do yourself, but it’s really not. A new flapper is about $5 and it’s very easy to replace. First, remove your old flapper and bring it with you to the hardware store so that you can find the closest fix. You can also find a “universal” toilet flapper which fits most models.
Now, if you’ve taken a look and it turns out that the problem doesn’t actually have anything to do with the flapper, the fix will be a little trickier. You might need to replace the fill valve or change something with the flush valve. Give us a call so we can help you out today.
