Repair Water Faucets During Fix a Leak Week

As part of Fix a Leak Week, Gwinnett County is hosting two free workshops on repairing leaky water faucets.

The Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources has partnered with Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District to promote this year’s Fix a Leak Week, a nationwide water conservation effort sponsored by the EPA’s WaterSense® program.

During the week of March 18, the county will encourage residents to help stop more than 1 trillion gallons of water wasted each year from easy to fix leaks.

The workshops are scheduled Tuesday, March 19, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center Auditorium, 75 Langley Drive in Lawrenceville and Saturday, March 23, from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Centerville Community Center, 3025 Bethany Church Road in Snellville. Registration is required by calling 678-376-6722 or emailing dwrconserve@gwinnettcounty.com.

“A leaky faucet may seem like a little drip, but those drops of water can add up to thousands of gallons of wasted water and more money spent on residents’ water bills,” said Heather Moody, Gwinnett County’s water conservation coordinator, in a news release. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average American home leaks more than 10,000 gallons of water per year, equivalent to the water needed to wash 280 loads of laundry or take more than 600 showers.

The Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources is asking residents to save water by checking, twisting and replacing water fixtures:

• Check for dripping faucets, showerheads, sprinklers and other fixtures. Also check for toilets with silent leaks by putting a few drops of food coloring into the tank and waiting 15 minutes to see if color appears in the bowl before you flush. Don’t forget to also check irrigation systems and spigots.
• Twist on a new aerator. To save water without seeing a noticeable difference in flow in the bathroom, twist on a WaterSense labeled faucet aerator. Also, tighten hose and pipe connections.
• Replace the fixture if necessary. Look for WaterSense-labeled models, which are independently certified to use 20 percent less water and perform as well as or better than standard models.