Mr. Rooter Plumbing Recognizes National Fix a Leak Week with Tips, Tools With the weather across America reaching record lows this winter, homeowners’ plumbing may be weeping – and not tears of joy. The harsh winter has caused thousands of homes to experience busted and leaking pipes, causing major damage – to both the home and the wallet. Add to this number a rash of running toilets and dripping faucets and the water wasted due to household leaks is colossal. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Fix a Leak Week, celebrating its sixth anniversary, will be held March 17-23. Mr. Rooter Plumbing will be participating by offering an online tool designed to help calculate the amount of water a home is wasting due to leaks that are not repaired in a timely manner. According to the EPA, untreated leaks can add up to more than one trillion gallons of wasted water per year, equaling more than the combined annual water usage of Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. “Most people don’t realize that the little leak in their faucet is costing them a pretty penny and wasting a very valuable resource,” says Mary Kennedy Thompson, President of Mr. Rooter LLC. “Oftentimes, the leaks found in the home are fairly simple to correct. These include dripping faucets and leaking toilet flappers and valves.” Mr. Rooter Plumbing offers these tips and tools to help alleviate the burdens a leak can cause: Check the homes water usage during winter months. If your usage exceeds 12,000 gallons a month, it is possible you have a leak. If a faucet is leaking, replace the faucet washers and gaskets if they appear worn. Tighten loose showerheads. Running toilets can waste more than 200 gallons of water daily. A simple method for checking for leaks is placing one to three drops of food coloring in your toilet tank. After 15 minutes, if the water in the bowl has changed color, you have a leak. Old flappers are often the cause of these leaks. Replace any flappers that have decayed or retained mineral build-ups to alleviate this problem. “These simple tips can save a homeowner money and can save millions of gallons of water annually,” says Thompson. “All of our small efforts can lead to big change.” For more information on Fix a Leak Week, visit: http://www.epa.gov/watersense/our_water/fi