Utility rates rising: Simple tips to find leaks and cut your water bill

TULSA, Okla. — With Owasso facing a 3% utility rate increase, a dripping faucet or running toilet could mean paying for water you're not actually using.

Cassie Pound, VP and owner of Quality Heating, Cooling, Plumbing and Electric, showed me a leak she says is most common — one caused by high water pressure building up inside a faucet.

"If there's some high pressure, something's that's building up and causing the water to go ahead and come out, even if you're not asking for it, that can be a sign that we have something going on," Pound said. "And that someone needs to look at it and see what the cause is."

Pound also showed me another common leak found in homes that residents may not notice — one involving the toilet's flapper.

"So this little flapper here, this is what we're gonna use to flush the toilet," Pound said. "So sometimes this can have a gap right and it's gonna cause this to constantly run or continually flush. So when the water is trying to fill back up, but if there's never a stop to allow it to fill, then it's just going to continue to run."

Pound says these types of leaks can sometimes be fixed yourself, but to always reach out to professionals for help if needed. I also got tips from Curtis, a plumbing service technician, on how to deal with leaks that aren't so obvious.

"So if your water heater is running constantly, it's got a leak, you don't have to shut water off to the whole house," Curtis said. "You can just shut the water off at your emergency shut off to the hot water heater right there."

Curtis also showed me where residents can shut off their water if a leak occurs and they can't find their water meter. In most homes, it is located in the closet with the hot water tank.

He says most water meters are located in the front yard and can be opened with a water meter key, which are found at your local hardware store.

The goal isn't to stop using water you need, but making sure you aren't paying for water you never meant to use.

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