Photo by João Paulo Carnevalli de Oliveira on Unsplash
A local gym near me always has leaky faucets in the bathroom. Every time I notice, I try to shut them off completely, but it seems to be an ongoing issue. At first, it just felt like a small annoyance of wasted water—but the truth is, those drips add up in a big way!
Most people don’t realize that a faucet dripping once every second can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water a year, as stated by the EPA in 2025. That’s enough to fill over 50 bathtubs. And if you’ve ever heard a toilet that just keeps running? That can waste up to 200 gallons a day!
From a financial standpoint, leaks can quietly raise your water bill by $20 to $60 or more each month, depending on how much water is lost. Multiply that by a year, and suddenly that “small” drip costs as much as a new piece of furniture or a family weekend trip.
The impact isn’t just on your wallet—it’s on the environment, too. Across the U.S., household leaks are estimated to waste nearly a trillion gallons of water every year. That’s enough to supply millions of homes, and it takes energy and treatment resources to deliver every gallon.
The good news? Fixing leaks is usually simple and, in the grand scheme of things, inexpensive. Here are a few quick ways to check:
For faucets: Look for drips on the spout or around the handles. Often, it’s just a worn-out washer.
For toilets: Drop a little food coloring into the tank. If you see color seeping into the bowl without flushing, the flapper probably needs replacing.
Most of these fixes are inexpensive in parts and just a few minutes. And if it’s beyond DIY, calling a plumber is still cheaper than letting the leak continue.
So whether it’s at home, the gym, or anywhere else, next time you hear that drip…drip…drip, remember: every drop saved is money and water back in our future.
References:
Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.). Fix a leak week. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from https://www.epa.gov/watersense/fix-leak-week
Written by: Emily Onheiser, Senior Search Consultant at Hunter Crown, LLC
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