Down the Drain, Part 3

Continued from Down the Drain, Part 2...

While I did have a new toilet flapper on hand (heck, I'd been telling myself for months that I really ought to install the bloody thing), I didn't have a chance to fix the toilet part of the "leak" problem the next day, because I had to work (being only semi-retired). When I got home from the office, there was a hang tag on my front door verifying that someone from Public Utilities had come by to check the water meter, and sure 'nuff, found no water flow at that time. Well, that was to be expected, since by now I had shut off the hose in the back yard, and it was unlikely that the toilet would decide to refill precisely at the time he was checking the meter.

I wasn't in the mood for even minor plumbing repairs that evening, but the next morning I dug the new flapper valve out of the cupboard, shut off the water valve to the toilet, and flushed to empty out the tank. Then I unclipped the old flapper from its supports, unhooked the chain from the flush handle, and installed the new one. Easy, I've done this before. After taking up some slsck in the chain, I turned the water back on and waited for the tank to fill and shut off.

It filled. It didn't shut off. It came up to the top of the overflow tube and started overflowing. I tapped on the fill valve. I moved the float up and down manually. I pulled up on the lever. The water just kept (over)flowing. I had fixed a problem in one part of the toilet's innards, only to have another part give up the ghost. Just one damned thing...

I sighed, shut off the water supply valve, and flushed to empty the tank again. I had not fixed a fill valve before. I went hunting for my copy of the ever-useful Black & Decker Complete Guide to Home Plumbing. B&D informed me that I needed to remove the fill valve cap and, at the least, replace a rubber seal inside it. If that didn't do the trick, I would need to replace the entire fill cap. And as a last resort, I could replace the entire fill valve mechanism. I hoped the "last resort" would prove unnecessary. I have this aversion to unsealing an opening in the toilet tank, that will then have to be resealed. I have seen too many such endeavors end rather unsatisfactorily and wetly. My approach to plumbing is to go for the most minimally invasive procedure possible.

But in any case, I needed, at minimum, a new rubber seal, and maybe a replacement fill cap. I refused to contemplate needing more than that. Following the instructions in my Complete Guide, I removed the fill cap, dug out the old seal, and headed off to my friendly orange big box home improvement store. Checking out the plumbing repair section I found the exact FluidMaster replacement seal I needed. For good measure, I also picked up a replacement fill cap.

Back home, I flushed out the fill system and installed the new rubber seal, followed by the old fill cap. Once more turning on the water supply valve, I crossed my fingers and let the toilet fill. It filled to about an inch from the top of the overflow tube... and shut off. I flushed and let it refill. It shut off again. Success! It looks like I won't be needing that replacement fill cap. Not yet, anyway. I'm not returning it. If I have it, maybe I won't need it.

Epilog

That was a little over three weeks ago. Since then (knock on wood), the toilet has not refilled on its own, nor has the fill valve failed to shut off. I called the Public Utilities service rep back the same day and reported that the toilet leak was fixed and he said he would put in for an adjustment on my water bill, which would automatically carry over to an adjustment on the wastewater treatment bill.

I got my adjusted bills this week, and I have to say they're rather disappointing. In all, they took only $21.44 off the water bill and 26.81 off the treatment bill. That still leaves both bills considerably more than usual. But I suppose, considering that the overage was really due almost entirely to the outside water tap being left on rather than an actual leak, I have to consider myself lucky to get any adjustment at all.

And looking at the weather we've had here over the past week – including several inches of snow and temperatures in the 5-25 degree range – it's a good thing I discovered that running tap when I did, or my back yard would have been a good imitation of an ice rink.