How much does a dripping faucet cost?

Gallons per day × 365 × the rate on your bill. EPA WaterSense says one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons a year. At $0.01 per gallon that is about $30. HyrePlumber publishes no national water price, so type yours.

Where does 8.2 gallons a day come from?

From EPA’s figure of more than 3,000 gallons a year for a faucet dripping once per second. 3,000 ÷ 365 is about 8.2. If you timed your drip, type your own number instead.

How do I turn my water bill into dollars per gallon?

Take the volumetric charge, not the fixed fee. $6 per 1,000 gallons is $0.006 per gallon. $4.50 per CCF ÷ 748 is also about $0.006. Add sewer if your utility bills it on water volume.

How do I know if I have a hidden leak?

Turn off every fixture and read the water meter, then read it again an hour or two later. Movement means a leak on your side of the meter. Dye-test the toilets next.

Does a running toilet waste more than a drip?

It can. EPA says a worn flapper can “silently leak thousands of gallons a year.” Toilets are nearly 30% of indoor water use. Measure the toilet on its own rather than reusing the 8.2 gallon drip figure.

Is a small leak cost a reason to wait?

No. The calculator prices the water only. A slow leak under a sink can ruin the cabinet and subfloor and grow mold, and none of that is in the figure.

Is a leak a plumbing emergency?

A drip you can contain can wait for a scheduled visit. Water you cannot stop, a burst pipe or sewage in the house is urgent: close the main shut-off first.

HyrePlumber tools

Leak cost calculator

Type the gallons a leak wastes each day and the per-gallon rate from your water bill. Nothing is stored or emailed.

3,000+ gal a year from one faucet drip per second EPA WaterSense, Fix a Leak Week, retrieved September 5, 2026: “A leaky faucet that drips at the rate of one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons per year.”

Annual leak cost = gallons per day × 365 × your water rate per gallon. EPA WaterSense says a faucet dripping once per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons a year, about 8.2 gallons a day.

At an example rate of $0.01 per gallon, that is about $30 a year. Water into a cabinet or wall costs more than the water.

Work out your leak

Arithmetic on your figures. Nothing is stored or emailed.

— Water lost a year

— Cost at your rate

— Not in this figure

What this assumed —

A check on the water bill, not a repair price. Damage from the leak is not in the arithmetic.

Worked examples

Three leaks, run through the calculator

The EPA drip

8.2 gallons a day is one drip per second. × 365 = 2,993 gallons a year. At an example rate of $0.01 per gallon, about $30 a year.

A meter that moves

Everything off, the meter moves 30 gallons in 3 hours: 240 gallons a day. × 365 = 87,600 gallons a year, or $876 at the same example rate.

No rate yet

Leave the rate at 0 and the calculator still shows the gallons. The dollar line waits for the rate from your bill.

Annual gallons = gallons per day × 365. Annual cost = annual gallons × your $/gallon. The $0.01 rate is an example, not a national price.

How to measure gallons per day

The calculator is only as good as the number you type. These checks cost nothing.

1
Read the meter with everything off
Turn off every fixture, the ice maker and the irrigation controller. Read the meter, wait one to two hours without using water, and read it again. Any movement is a leak on your side.
2
Turn the reading into gallons per day
Gallons registered ÷ hours waited × 24. One cubic foot is 7.48 gallons; one CCF (100 cubic feet) is 748 gallons.
3
Dye-test each toilet
Put a few drops of food coloring in the tank and wait 20 minutes without flushing. Color in the bowl means the flapper is passing water.
4
Shut the irrigation and read again
If the sprinkler line has its own valve, close it and repeat the meter test. That splits indoor from outdoor in one step.
5
Time a drip you can see
Catch it in a measuring cup for one minute. A US gallon is 128 fluid ounces. Ounces per minute ÷ 128 × 1,440 is gallons per day.

Build the rate from your water bill

Only the charge that moves with each gallon belongs in the rate box.

Use the volumetric charge. The fixed monthly service charge does not change with a leak, so leave it out. $6.00 per 1,000 gallons is $0.006 per gallon.

Convert CCF. If the bill charges per CCF, divide by 748. $4.50 per CCF is about $0.006 per gallon.

Add sewer if it rides on water volume. Some utilities bill sewer on the water you buy. An indoor leak then raises both lines, so add both rates.

Use your top tier. On a tiered bill, the leaked gallons are billed at the highest tier you reach, not the average.

Ask about a leak adjustment. Some utilities credit a bill raised by a documented, repaired leak. Keep the repair invoice and ask before you pay.

What EPA WaterSense says about household leaks

Quoted from EPA’s Fix a Leak Week page. None of these is a HyrePlumber estimate.

9,300+gallons a year from the average household’s leaksEPA WaterSense

50+ gal/daywasted by leaks in 9% of homesEPA WaterSense

about 10%saved on a water bill by fixing easily corrected leaksEPA WaterSense

3,000+gallons a year from a faucet dripping once per secondEPA WaterSense

US Environmental Protection Agency, WaterSense, Fix a Leak Week, retrieved September 5, 2026. EPA also says: “An old or worn toilet flapper can cause your toilet to flush on its own or silently leak thousands of gallons a year.”

Which leaks do damage beyond the bill

The gallons and the harm do not line up. A small leak into a cabinet can do more damage than a large one that runs down a drain.

Leak	How you notice it	What else it can damage	What to do first
Toilet flapper	Tank refills on its own; dye shows in the bowl	Nothing structural: the water goes down the drain	Schedule it. The flapper is a small part.
Dripping faucet	You can see and hear it	Staining on the basin	Schedule it. Time the drip for the calculator.
Under a sink	Damp cabinet floor, swollen board	Cabinet, subfloor, mold	Put a pan under it, close the fixture stop, dry the cabinet.
Supply hose or connector	Rust, bulges or drips at the fitting	Anything nearby: a failed hose can run at full pressure	Close its stop valve and replace the hose.
Irrigation line	Soggy ground, meter moves with the house off	Soil near the foundation	Close the irrigation valve and read the meter again.
Service line	Meter moves with the house isolated	Ground, and a slab or foundation near it	Ask your utility which part of the line is yours.
Slab leak	Warm spot on a floor, running-water sound	Flooring, slab	Book leak detection before any digging.
Water heater tank	Water from the tank body, not a fitting	Floor under the heater	Shut the cold supply and the power or gas. See the repair-or-replace tool.

The last two columns are HyrePlumber’s guidance, not a repair price or a diagnosis.

What to ask before you pay for leak detection

Finding a leak and fixing it are two jobs. Ask how each one is priced.

Is detection priced apart from the repair?
Then you can compare the repair with a second bid.
What did the meter read before and after?
A meter that stops moving after the repair shows the job worked.
Which method was used, and what did it rule out?
Acoustic, pressure test, thermal camera or tracer gas. A good report names what was excluded.
Is this one leak or a failing system?
A third pinhole leak in the same pipe run is a repiping conversation, priced per foot.
Who closes the wall or floor?
Opening and patching can be separate trades. Ask whether the bid covers both.
Do not file this page with an insurer
It cannot see how long the leak ran or what your policy covers.

What the calculator leaves out

Heating the water. A hot-side leak also wastes the energy that heated it. Pricing that needs your fuel price and heater efficiency, so the page does not guess.

How long it ran. The annual figure assumes today’s rate for a full year. It is a projection, not a history.

The damage. A cabinet, a subfloor or a ceiling below are outside the arithmetic. A small dollar figure is not a reason to wait.

Where the leak is. A drip at an aerator and a pinhole in a slab are both gallons. Toilets alone are nearly 30% of indoor use, per EPA, so test them first.

Questions this calculator answers

How much does a dripping faucet cost?: Gallons per day × 365 × the rate on your bill. EPA WaterSense says one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons a year. At $0.01 per gallon that is about $30. HyrePlumber publishes no national water price, so type yours.
Where does 8.2 gallons a day come from?: From EPA’s figure of more than 3,000 gallons a year for a faucet dripping once per second. 3,000 ÷ 365 is about 8.2. If you timed your drip, type your own number instead.
How do I turn my water bill into dollars per gallon?: Take the volumetric charge, not the fixed fee. $6 per 1,000 gallons is $0.006 per gallon. $4.50 per CCF ÷ 748 is also about $0.006. Add sewer if your utility bills it on water volume.
How do I know if I have a hidden leak?: Turn off every fixture and read the water meter, then read it again an hour or two later. Movement means a leak on your side of the meter. Dye-test the toilets next.
Does a running toilet waste more than a drip?: It can. EPA says a worn flapper can “silently leak thousands of gallons a year.” Toilets are nearly 30% of indoor water use. Measure the toilet on its own rather than reusing the 8.2 gallon drip figure.
Is a small leak cost a reason to wait?: No. The calculator prices the water only. A slow leak under a sink can ruin the cabinet and subfloor and grow mold, and none of that is in the figure.
Is a leak a plumbing emergency?: A drip you can contain can wait for a scheduled visit. Water you cannot stop, a burst pipe or sewage in the house is urgent: close the main shut-off first.

Sources and methodology

Figures dated September 5, 2026. Last reviewed September 29, 2026.

Fix a Leak Week (US Environmental Protection Agency, WaterSense, retrieved September 5, 2026). The 3,000 gallon drip, the 9,300 gallon household figure, the 10% bill saving and the flapper, showerhead and irrigation figures.
Residential Toilets (US Environmental Protection Agency, WaterSense, retrieved September 5, 2026). Toilets are nearly 30% of indoor water use.
How we use water (US Environmental Protection Agency, WaterSense, retrieved September 5, 2026). Household water use for context against a leak.

Leak detection and repair What a leak job includes and what the bid should say.
Toilet repair and installation When the dye test shows the flapper is passing.
Water usage calculator What your household uses before any leak.
Is this a plumbing emergency? For water you cannot stop.
Repipe cost estimator When one leak becomes the third in the same pipe.

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