Dealing with a running toilet is not always something new as this is usually one of the common problems we usually face in our homes.
The good thing however is, you don’t really need to seek the services of a professional plumber to help you out, you can easily fix it yourself unless it is to big for you.
However, before taking any steps further, you need to make sure that you fully understand how your toilet functions.
Of course for you to have a knowledge of how the toilet works, you will first need to know the parts that makes up the toilet.
Well, for those who are completely new to this, it is recommended that you flush the toilet a few times first just to get a grip of how everything works.
Basically, even though toilets might have a slight difference from each other, they however have the same main parts. These include a valve and float, the flapper, overflow tube and the fill tube.
How a toilet works
This is simply how a toilet works. When the handle is pressed, a chain usually attached to it on the inside is pulled and this in turn pulls up the flapper.
This will enable the water to fill the bowl by exiting through the opening when the flapper is lifted up.
As the water level will be decreasing, the flapper will also be closing and the float will also be dropping with the decreasing water level.
The float and the valve works together. In fact as the float will be dropping, the valve on this other side will be interacting with the fill tube to let in more water as the tank gets refilled.
When the float reaches the maximum level, the valve will stop to let in water and any excess water will exit through the overflow tube.
Well, now that you have an idea of how the toilet works and the components that makes up the toilet, you can now go ahead and start looking for the issue if you still notice a leakage after flushing.
Fixing the toilet
If you still notice the toilet is running, you should consider removing the lid and taking a look to find out what the problem is. Usually, there are 3 main issues that might result to a running toilet.
These include a stuck open flapper, misalignment of the float and valve and maybe a problem in the waterline.
Either way, if your toilet has any of the mentioned problems, there’s no need to panic as all of them can be able to be fixed easily with just a few corrections.
Make sure you go for a long term fix as temporary fixing will require you to be checking your toilet every time.
For instance, if you are having a stuck open valve, closing it and leaving it will be a temporary solution as there is a high chance that it will be open again.
You will need to further do a check up to find out what might be causing this issue.
Check whether there’s a problem with the hinges or if the chain is getting caught somewhere when the handled is pulled. Also, check the float and the valve.
After finding out what the problem is, you can finally get out your tools and start doing the adjustments. Or, you can visit your local hardware and get some help if you have a bigger problem.
It is important to fix a running toilet as fast as possible since water leakages can always cause a lot more damage than you might think. Besides, fixing a running toilet can see you save a couple of bucks on that water bill.