PUC Highlights Importance of Safe Drinking Water During-- Fix A Leak Week

On March 14, the Public Utility Commission highlighted the importance of safe drinking water, along with the role of water efficiency and conservation efforts, in conjunction with National “Fix a Leak Week,” which is March 18-24, 2019.

The annual Fix a Leak campaign challenges households across the country to check their fixtures for leaks and consider the environmental and economic impact of wasted water.

“Household leaks nationwide waste nearly 1-trillion gallons of water per year – enough water to supply every family in Pennsylvania for more than two full years,” said PUC Vice Chair David W. Sweet.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an estimated 10 percent of all homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day, and the average household leaks can waste more than 10,000 gallons of water every year.

Leaks nationwide equal the annual household water use of more than 11 million homes.

As part of Fix a Leak Week, Pennsylvanians are encouraged to identify and fix leaks around their homes.  The PUC and EPA offer the following tips:

-- Review your water usage during a colder month, such as January or February. If a family of four exceeds 12,000 gallons per month, there are serious leaks.

-- Check your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter changes at all, you probably have a leak.

-- Identify toilet leaks by placing a drop of food coloring in the toilet tank. If any color shows up in the bowl after 10 minutes, you have a leak. (Be sure to flush immediately after the experiment to avoid staining the tank.)

-- Examine faucet gaskets and pipe fittings for any water on the outside of the pipe to check for surface leaks.

More tips for finding leaks and saving water are available on the EPA’s WaterSense website.
To learn more about drinking water issues, visit DEP’s Safe Drinking Water webpage.