The Hidden Costs of That Leaking Faucet – More Than Your Sanity Is at Stake

  • By Admin
  • •
  • 09 Jul, 2019
A leaking faucet can negatively affect your home, health, and wallet - bluefrog Plumbing + Drain Cleaning of Northwest Houston
By Chuchawan at Shutterstock
The constant drip of a leaky faucet can be more than a mild annoyance to most. Sure, it’s on your to-do list, but that list is growing with more urgent tasks. It’s easy to put off fixing a leaking faucet when your air conditioning system is acting up in the summer. You may even tell yourself the leak isn’t that bad. Unfortunately, that’s where most homeowners are wrong. Even a minor leak can lead to water damage and is costing you money every second.

Hidden Costs of a Leaking Faucet

The truth of the matter is, even a slow leaking faucet can have long-lasting, devastating consequences around the home. Even worse, these consequences are not always monetary. When we talk about the “costs” of a leaking faucet, we mean financial, health, and property – everything is affected.

Financial Costs

Financially, a plumbing leak of any kind can be costly. On average, a leaking faucet or showerhead will add around $20 to your monthly bill. Now, $20 doesn’t sound like a lot, but it adds up over the year. Even worse, if the leak goes unnoticed for too long, it can lead to expensive water damage that costs hundreds or thousands of dollars to repair.

Health Costs

Next, there’s also the concern of mold. A lot of people are sensitive to mold, experiencing nasal congestion, throat irritation, coughing, wheezing, skin rashes, and even asthma attacks.

The primary cause of mold in the home is generally water damage. The longer a leaking faucet goes on, the more water damage. Therefore, the more likely the chance of mold growing under your cabinets, between tiles, or behind walls.

Property Costs

As we said, an unnoticed leak can cause hidden water damage and mold growth. Both of these will negatively affect your home. Certain building materials around the house, including drywall and flooring, will warp, rot, and crumble from the damage.

The repairs for such property damage can be extensive. In fact, most homeowners will need to file a property damage claim with their insurance company to handle the costs. These costs can rise as high as tens of thousands of dollars from a single leaking faucet. It’s not worth the trouble.

Water Drip Calculations

A water drip is never a simple problem. Let’s break down the mathematics behind water drips from a single faucet.

According to the United States Geological Survey’s water drip calculator, around 15,140 drips equate to 1 gallon of water. 4,000 drips are 1 liter of water. On average, a leaking faucet is about 10 drips per minute. That’s 3 liters of water wasted each day and 347 gallons per year.

If you have a faucet leak, even a minor one, contact bluefrog Plumbing + Drain of Northwest Houston. You can reach us at 346-222-5262!