You have now established that you have a leaky Toilet and want to stop wasting water. So now what? Generally speaking most toilet leaks stem from the “valve flap”. This flap creates a tight seal after you flush the toilet. There are four reasons why water is leaking around the Valve flap.

1. The chain that connects to the flush lever is too tight. When the flap is in the close position, the chain should have some “slack” in it. If not, adjust the chain link a couple of notches.
2. The rubber valve flap is old and therefore the rubber has cracked or simply worn. If this is the case, purchase a valve flap replacement. Replacement is very simple, just turn off the water to your toilet, flush to empty the tank as much as possible. Wrap a piece of tape around the link that the hook is connected to and then disconnect the chain and snap off the old flapper. Take the new flapper and snap it on and reinstall the chain. Turn on the water valve and see if that stops your leak.
3. Mineral buildup around the flapper valve. If you typically drop in your tank one of those chemical tablets, you will sometimes find a bunch of dissolved sediment building up around the tank valve. If this is the case, turn off the water to your toilet, scrap around the bottom of the tank and valve with a putty knife orspatula. Once all the partially dissolved material has been scraped/dislodged, turn on the water and flush the toilet 3-4 times. While flushing, continuously check the bottom of the tank to see if the flush valve is clean.
4. A crack toilet tank around the valve could be another reason for leaking water. To check this, empty the water tank and visually inspect very carefully for fine line cracks around the valve. If there is a crack, you will need to replace your toilet.

If you have any questions or in need of a plumbing expert, give us a call at 1-800-GET-ROTO.