Enrichment · Passion Projects · Home and garden

Is the house leaking
while no one’s
using water?

Read the water meter twice with everything off. The estimator turns the difference into gallons a day and a year and dollars on the bill, and shows how much your dripping taps explain.

Run the meter testWhat you get

The leak estimator

The worked example is a made-up Saturday meter test. Nothing you type leaves this browser.

Loading the calculator. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Enrichment · Passion ProjectsFree

What you finish with
The leak rate a minute, day and year, the yearly cost, and the counted drips’ share. It prints as a summary and downloads as a spreadsheet.
Who it is for
Families and renters checking a high water bill, environmental science and consumer math classes, and student conservation projects.
Format
Browser calculator for a phone, tablet or computer, by touch or keyboard. Prints a summary; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Passion Projects space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Turn off all water use in and around the house.
  2. Read the meter, including the decimal digits.
  3. Wait 30 to 60 minutes, then read it again.
  4. Count drips at any dripping tap for one minute.
  5. Type the readings, the minutes and the price from your bill.

Run the meter test

How the leak is estimated

A rate from two readings, stretched across the year.

The worked example: a one-hour meter test with nothing runningMeter moved0.8 gal48,213.6 → 48,214.4A minute0.0133 gal0.8 ÷ 60 minA day19.2 gal× 1,440 minutesA year7,008 galabout $88The worked example: a one-hour meter test with nothing runningMeter moved0.8 gal48,213.6 → 48,214.4A minute0.0133 gal0.8 ÷ 60 minA day19.2 gal× 1,440 minutesA year7,008 galabout $88
A small rate adds up because a leak never sleeps: there are 525,600 minutes in a year.

The meter test

With nothing running, any water the meter records is leaking somewhere. Many meters also have a small triangle or dial, the leak indicator, that spins with even a tiny flow. Reading the full number twice turns that into a rate. A longer test, such as overnight, catches slower leaks.

Finding it

Toilets are the usual culprit: a worn flapper can waste hundreds of gallons a day without a sound. Put food colouring in the tank and wait. Dripping taps, a hissing water heater relief valve and outdoor spigots are next. EPA’s WaterSense programme estimates household leaks waste nearly 10,000 gallons a year on average.

Sources

  1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, WaterSense. Fix a Leak Week and leak facts (epa.gov/watersense).
  2. U.S. Geological Survey, Water Science School. The drip calculator and drip size (usgs.gov).
  3. American Water Works Association. Reading your water meter (awwa.org).
  4. National Institute of Standards and Technology. Handbook 44: the gallon and the cubic foot (nist.gov).

The worked example is made up. Drip sizes vary; the meter test is the better measure. Your entries stay in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.