Water Leaks | City of Somerville

Don't let water leaks drive up your water bill or waste water! Learn how to check for leaks.

Sign up for WaterScope to get leak alerts and keep an eye on your water use.

The average leak can account for nearly 10,000 gallons of water wasted every year. Ten percent of properties having leaks that waste 90 gallons or more per day causing high water and sewer bills. Common types of leaks found are worn toilet flappers, dripping faucets, and other leaking valves. These types of leaks are often easy to fix. Most require only a few tools and hardware that can pay for themselves in water savings. Fixing easily corrected water leaks can save ratepayers about 10 percent on their water bills.

Sign Up for WaterScope to Get Potential Leak Alerts, Monitor Your Water Usage, and More:
- You can get automatic alerts and monitor your water usage through WaterScope:
  - get notified of suspected leaks
  - get high usage alerts
  - set your own notifications for consumption amounts
  - get notified if pipe temperatures are near freezing and pipes could burst
- This video guides you on navigating through the WaterScope portal.
- If your meter has been recently replaced but you don’t have a login for WaterScope yet, please fill complete the Opt In Form and send it to water@somervillema.gov or drop it off out our offices at 17 Franey Road.
Learn to Check for Leaks with Simple Tests:
- Identify toilet leaks with a drop of food coloring or test tablets (available at the Water and Sewer Department) in the toilet tank.
  - If any color shows up in the bowl after 10 minutes, you have a leak.
  - Be sure to flush immediately after the experiment to avoid staining the tank.
- Identify dripping faucets and showerheads.
  - AWWA's Drip Calculator helps you see how drips add up to gallons wasted.
- Examine faucet gaskets and pipe fittings for any water on the outside of the pipe to check for surface leaks.
- Check out some additional tips and resources on the EPA’s Fix a Leak page
Prevent Leaks from Frozen Pipes during Cold Weather:
- Visit our Preventing Frozen Water Pipes page.
- Sign up for WaterScope to get alerts when the temperature of your pipes is near freezing.

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