Spot Hidden Water Leaks in Your Home with 3 Simple Steps

It’s one of the biggest sources of waste in your home, and you’re probably not even aware of it.

Water leaks in your home are typically silent, slow and commonly go undetected, causing restoration costs to creep well into the thousands (Yikes!).

According to the EPA, the average family wastes nearly 10,000 gallons of water each year due to household leaks. That's equivalent to the amount of water needed to wash more than 300 loads of your family’s laundry.

Don’t stress, you’re three steps away from identifying if the problem exists in your home.

Step 1: Identify IF You have a Leak

Pay attention to your water bills. Outrageously high water bills can be an initial detector of a hidden leak. Put your water meter to work by leveraging it to identify if you’ve got a problem on your hands!

Here’s how:

1. Find your water meter (it’s likely in a box in the corner of your yard near the curb or on the side of your home). Record the number shown.
2. Stop using all water (don’t forget to turn off things like your ice maker and sprinkler system), then wait at least 3 hours.
3. Check your meter again. If you see a change in recorded water usage, you’ve uncovered a hidden water leak.

Step 2: Locate the Leak

Now that you know you have a leak, you’ll need to find its location. You'll find most of them around bathtubs, showers, sinks and toilets:

• Check the rubber parts in your toilet. Once they’ve worn, they can cause a silent, slow leak.  
• Test your sink and bathtub rims. Grab a wet sponge, then squeeze water around your sink rim and faucet base then look for leaks below.
• Take a peek under your sink. Notice any abnormal stains, a musky smell, or actual puddles?
• Beware of old knobs in your bath and shower. You might think you've turned off the water but old handles may not actually shut off water completely, allowing water to slowly drip out.
• Visit your water heater. A traditional water heater with puddles around it could be a sign the tank is ready to burst.
• Inspect washing machine hoses before they become a major catastrophe. (Pro Tip: replace the hose with new stainless steel versions.)

Still no signs of the leak source? Play it smart.

Your home’s leak could be hiding behind the walls or ceiling, making it significantly more challenging to identify.

Warping, blistering, sagging or staining on any of your home walls ceilings and flooring can be caused by hidden leaks from surrounding pipes, but water can travel a significant distance before you realize there’s an issue.

Place a Notion sensor on the floor to help detect a hot spot, which can be a major indicator of a leak in a hot water pipe. Wherever vents or opening into your ceilings are available, place a sensor to receive an immediate alert when moisture is detected. The faster you can reach the source of an active flow, the higher the likelihood of identifying the true source.

Step 3: Avoid Catastrophe Down The Road

Your washing machine and hot water heater are two of the most problematic appliances in your home. Once a washing machine hose or water heater bursts, flooding begins immediately. Limit the time your home is exposed to such flooding by placing a Notion sensor on the floor nearby; it will send you a notification the moment it detects moisture.

Notion sensors work with your phone to monitor the most leak-sensitive areas of your household. We place them near our showers and bathtubs, next to the toilet, and by every home appliance connected to a water source.