Since the day we moved into my house, my kitchen faucet has had a leak. At first, it wasn’t too bad—I could make sure the nozzle was secure in the neck and it would stop. But lately, every few minutes or so, I can hear the drip, drip, drip of it while I’m home working during the day.
Not only is the sound of it maddening, but this Avista web page about DIY energy savings tips tells me that my leaky faucet can be the equivalent of wasting a bathtub full of hot water every month.
My faucet didn’t need a major fix, but diagnosing the problem was the biggest part of the job. I looked up how to fix leaky faucets online, and there were a lot of videos about a faucet that leaks at its base. Some of them had leaky hoses. For my faucet, it was a leak at the nozzle. It has a sprayer and where the nozzle connects to the hose was where the water was leaking. I just needed a new rubber gasket.
I took a pair of pliers and twisted off the nozzle. The old gasket had broken apart, so it fell right off. Then I rolled the new gasket into place and screwed back the nozzle.
This job was another easy fix to save a lot of water. I was fairly intimidated by it before I got started, but if the problem is small, like a broken gasket, you can fix your leaky faucet too.
Lisa, an Avista customer, bought her 1910 house because she loved the old-world character, some of which doesn’t make her house very energy efficient. Lisa is sharing her experience on taking some simple do-it-yourself improvements to inspire others to do the same. You’ll find her stories right here every Tuesday morning.