Of all the places where water is wasted in the house, the irritating drip from your faucet doesn't seem like a major offender. But the truth is, along with fixtures and appliances like the toilet and the clothes washer, leaks-from the visible ones in your bathroom and kitchen sinks to the less obvious ones in your toilet tank and in pipes buried underground-well, those leaks could be sucking your water source dry.

The good news is that water conservation can be as simple as plugging the leaks. Making just a few changes improves efficiency, saves money, and protects a valuable resource. First, you should investigate whether or not your home's plumbing system is leaking water at all. Then, if you spot a problem, you should have a plumber come in and pinpoint the source.

So you call a plumber. But what do you say? Here are some simple questions to ask, and places where the plumber should pay special attention when he or she is helping you to save water:

Do I have water leaks in my home? How can I tell?
First things first: There's an easy way to see if your home is leaking water. Just check your meter. John Koeller, a technical adviser to the California Urban Water Conservation Council (CUWCC) and the Alliance for Water Efficiency, recommends turning off everything that uses water in your home: clothes washers, dishwashers, ice makers, faucets, etc., and then reading your water meter. After an hour, read it again. If it has moved at all, water is leaking, and the next step is to find out where.

Where are the leaks?
It's easy enough for you or your plumber to check out your shower heads, and plain-view sink faucets in your kitchen, bathroom, garage, and laundry room. Koeller says that leaks often come from faucets that won't shut off properly. Ask your plumber to replace the washers, faucet-stem packing, or supply tubing in these faucets ASAP.

What about leaks in my toilet?
If the toilet has a leak, you are losing tens of gallons a day to the drain. To test for "silent leaks," you or your plumber can try this trick: Buy some food dye and squirt several tablespoons of it into the toilet tank. Don't flush, and wait 15 to 30 minutes to see if any of the color ends up in the toilet bowl. If so, it usually means the flush ball or flapper (the piece of rubber or plastic, attached to the flush handle, that covers the outlet of water from your tank to your toilet bowl) needs to be replaced.

What about water running in my toilet at night?
Ask your plumber to lower the water level in your toilet tank to about an inch below the top of the overflow tube. Here's the reason: Koeller says that in municipal water systems, the water pressure goes up at night as the demand for water goes down (usually between 1:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m.). What this means is that, while you are sleeping, the level of water in your toilet tank rises and water starts flowing into the overflow tube and down the drain, wasting untold amounts of water until people get up in the morning again for their daily wash.

Do I need a new toilet? What's the best kind to get?
If you are looking to get a new model, purchasing an inexpensive, high-efficiency toilet, when paired with regional water-efficiency rebates, may mean that you can get one for almost no cost. People who are buying new toilets often leave the decision about the make and model to their plumber or contractor. But it's important to know what you're getting for your money. "Toilet price has no relationship to flush performance," Koeller says. Check out the CUWCC's maximum performance testing evaluation (PDF) for the best models.

What if I've checked all these plumbing fixtures and I still can't find the source of my water leaks?
If it's not apparent where you leaks are-you've checked the toilet, the faucets, the shower heads, and any irrigation systems outdoors-then your leaks might be coming from pipes buried in the ground. Ask your plumber if he or she thinks this is a possibility and discuss options for replacing and repairing them.

Other things you can do to save water in your home:
- In you have an in-ground irrigation system, make sure all of the sprinkler heads are working properly and facing in the right direction-spraying sidewalks and dog-walking passersby wastes water.

- Wash only full loads of clothing, and do so in cold water.

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