Do You Have a Noisy Running Toilet?

Ever walk by your bathroom and heard your toilet start filling up and no one has used the toilet? One of the more common fixes to a running toilet is a bad flapper. The toilet flapper is a rubber disk that hooks up to the Douglas valve and toilet handle. What happens over time is the rubber flapper tends to warp and won’t make a good seal against the Douglas valve. Even the tiniest warp can cause you to lose tons of water.

The other most common problem I run into is that the fill valve won’t shut off all the way. The fill valve is a valve that allows water into your tank. In normal operations, it will shut the water off when it reaches a certain water level inside the toilet tank. When it goes bad, it will continue to let water into the tank, into the Douglas valve tube, and the toilet will continue to fill up as if it was just used.

Does your toilet sound like its running and you have water spots around the base of the toilet? This could mean that your tank to bowl gasket has gone out. The tank to bowl gasket is a rubber gasket that sits between the tank and the bowl, held down by brass bolts and washers. Just like the flapper, the tank to bowl gasket will warp and not completely seal and water will leak out from in-between the tank and the bowl.

Probably the most uncommon problem of a running toilet is the Douglas valve leaking. The Douglas valve is the heart and soul of your toilet. Think of the Douglas valve as your main control hub of your toilet. The Douglas valve is where your flapper attaches too and it also holds the tank to bowl gasket in place. We sometimes see Douglas valves that will start to leak over their flow tube.

Losing Water from a Running Toilet

You would be surprised to know that a running toilet can waste thousands of gallons of water a month. You can easily increase your water bill unnecessarily by $200.00 dollars a month if your toilet is continuously running. If you let it go for a whole year, you can easily add $2400.00 dollars in wasted water to your bill. If you think you have a running toilet, make sure to call the experts at AM Plumbing & Rooter. Give us a call today to come and take a look.