Trusted 24-Hour Plumbing Services in your area

Find your main shutoff valve and turn it clockwise until it stops. It's usually where the water line enters the house (basement, garage, crawl space, or in a utility closet on a slab home). Outside, there's also a curb-stop valve at the meter (you'll need a meter key to turn it). Worth locating before you ever need it; in a burst-pipe situation, every minute is gallons of water.

Almost always a hidden leak. The two biggest culprits: a silently running toilet (drop food coloring in the tank; if color appears in the bowl within 15 minutes without flushing, the flapper is leaking) and an irrigation or supply-line leak underground. To confirm, shut off every fixture in the house and watch the water meter; if the dial still moves, water is escaping somewhere between the meter and your fixtures.

Generally no, especially as a habit. They're caustic enough to corrode older metal pipes, soften PVC at joints, and damage rubber gaskets in disposals and traps. They also rarely clear the real cause: hair, grease, soap scum, or tree-root intrusion further down the line. A plunger or hand auger (drain snake) handles most clogs without the risk; anything that comes back within a few weeks usually needs a camera inspection or professional snaking.

Nine times out of ten, it's the flapper (the rubber seal at the bottom of the tank) or the fill valve. A running toilet can quietly waste hundreds of gallons a day. Both parts are inexpensive at any hardware store and replace in about 15 minutes with no special tools. If you swap them and the leak persists, the flush-valve seat is worn or the overflow tube is cracked, and that one usually needs a plumber.

If it's just one fixture, start with the aerator: unscrew it from the faucet tip and rinse out the mineral grit. If every fixture is weak, the likely suspects are: a partially closed main shutoff valve, a failing pressure-reducing valve (PRV) at the service entry, mineral buildup inside old galvanized pipes, or a hidden leak. Hot water only? The water heater's dip tube or sediment is the place to look.

Sediment buildup at the bottom of the tank. Minerals settle, water gets trapped underneath, and as the burner heats it the steam bubbles out with a pop or rumble. It's a sign the heater is working harder than it should: energy bills rise, and the tank wears out faster. An annual flush helps prevent it; if your heater is over 10 years old and noisy, it's worth having it inspected before it fails.