I hope I can describe this right as it is driving me crazy.

Basically, I have a problem with my toilet losing water through the flapper in the tank. I have replaced the valve two times and each time it seems the problem is fixed but after a period of time (6 - 8 months) the problem comes back. This problem has already made my septic system fail about a year ago and has my water bill on the rise again. I jumped up $10 this past month. I can also hear the toilet running occasionally. I need to get this fixed before it is too late.
What else can I do, short of replacing the toilet, too fix this?

And just in case anyone is interested in how this caused my septic system too fail, read on....

My first occurrence caused my septic system to fail due to a constant water flow. I was not aware of this until it was too late. The leak was very minor and the water bill was always the same. I have no idea how long it was occurring but the manufacturer of the septic system, my general contractor and the county inspector were working together to solve the problem. They came out and did soil tests and inspected the drain fields. They could not find a problem and suggested I have my tank pumped out. I had this done but to no avail. Now keep in mind, my house was only five years old so the septic system should not have been even close to failing. Well, they can back and determined that the system was not the problem and then checked the toilets for leak. They did this by placing food coloring in the tank, waited about 5 mins to 30 mins and checked the bowl. If the water is clear, no leak, else, there is a leak. You can tell how badly by the color of the water. One toilet was clear but the other had a very minor leak. Well, they said that was the most likely cause as the septic system is constantly being fed water, and after a year or two, the drainage fields were saturated and the water had to go somewhere. In my case, it was seeping up into my backyard. They said the other route was seeping back into the house. Luckily my contractor covered this under my warranty. They ended up putting a new drainage field in. This was about a year ago.
Now the problem is back and my house is no longer under warranty.
ANyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,

Gary

 

If you're not comfortable changing the valve out yourself (I would simply use a different/ better brand valve), then just pull out your wallet and pay a plumber to fix it. If you decide to pay a plumber, then get a warranty and give up the responsibility for it to someone else. It ain't real complicated. Although I'd suspect a perk/ soil issue as a real possibility.

 

For the quick rather messy fix go get a wax toilet ring 99 cents and puts some wax on the Flapper and the outlet it will help make a seal lasts 6 months

or pull the tank and replace the flapper and tank base connection
just don't overtighten it

 

I thing your feild in saturated (full)and probably blocked
for this reason they donot allow septic fields any more
in alberta pump outs only to above ground field or to
a drainage mound min 200 feet from your well
and the mound must be able to hold 2x tank contents so
in wet or saturated conditions it has time to seep away

 

Sounds like you got some bad advise....

If water was going into the septic then you should have just being able to pump it out....additionally drilled a couple of holes around the field and pumped them out....would have to go back couple 3 times.

Other thing is....sounds like your field is not right soil material...it should not get fed that way....

is their good organisms working in your septic...? If not add some bio organism mixes to promote workings of GOOD bacteria to eat up stuff.

A good septic should never need pumping...but I have yet to see one that did not need one every few years....

The toilet item...just get a new brand.....some minerals in the water will not go well with some...thus will need to replace them

 

Call a plumber, it sounds like it will pay itself off.

 

Youve already replaced the flap once so you know the difficuly level or lack there of. I'd get a different brand flap and try that... I can't remeber the brand that I buy but they are less than $15 at Lowes. I've only had to replace the ones in each toilet once each in 26 years. But the lower flap seal could have a factory flaw, a little bur or something inspect closely... Just an idea but try putting some vaseline around it for a temp fix.

 

$15 bucks???????!!!!!

In Cdn their only $3.....wowzers.....

 

LOL If I cant remember the price of something that means it was probably less than $20. So saying less than $15 was safe...

 

If I got a call from some one discribing you situation I would want to know what brand toilet it is. When we go to the hardware store we pick up a universal flapper. Many toilets reqiure a OE flapper to work. For instance, there are a lot of Kohler Wellworth toilets installed around here. When the govenment mandated (in think it was '86) that all toilets be low consumption, that is 1.6 gallons or less, manufacturers scrambled to come up with a design that would work. The Kohler has been one of the better low consumption toilets from what I've seen but they changed the flapper several times. We've tried the universal flappers, which almost always leaked. We would get the OE flapper but for a while the materal that they used would fail. Eventually they designed a flapper that works. It took a lot of call backs for us though.

Ok, so you have replaced the flapper. The part that the flapper seats on and also has the overflow tube is called the flush valve. The things to check on that are, is the seating surface clear of debris and defects? Are there any visible defects? If you look down the overflow tube can you see the water running through? There have been a few occasion that there was a small crack in the overflow tube that would give symptoms like the ones you are discribing. I have also seen water leak from the seal where the flush valve attaches to the tank. This usually happens if there is a casting flaw. Casting flaws are becoming very common these days and are the cause of a lot of leaks.

You can replace the flush valve yourself. It's not very complicated, however there are several other things that can go wrong. The first thing to go wrong is you can't get the tank to bowl bolts out. If this happens your job just got bigger. Now you'll need a saw. It can also be difficult to get the flush valve out.

I know it cost too much money to higher some one, and most of the work seems to be stuff that anyone can handle. I know from experiance that it's the stuff that you don't anticipate that will end up screwing up the job. I would reccomend highering a licensed plumbing contractor. See who your friends and family use. Pay a few bucks now and hopefully save a bunch later.

What your describing with your septic sounds like the water table is too high. The leaching fields get plugged is your tank isn't working properly, that is the bacteria isn't breaking down the solids. You might want to have the company that pumps your tank take a look.

Good luck.

 

Yea it's always the "unforseen" that gets me and sometimes end up having to do more or replace more than I would have.

 

I have seen this a million times! people replace flapper after flapper and it never truly fixes the problem.

the long term fix is always to replace the plastic flapper valve/fill tube (as mentioned above) buy them in combination with a same brand flapper. it is a fairly straight forward job. if you are meat fisted and break bolts and strip screws this is not the job for you!

I have done this to literally hundreds of toilets over the years and have yet to have one where I wasn't able to loosen the screws!

in terms of your septic not handling the water I would have your property re-perked. I bet it won't perk!!

good luck

 

RUSSELL336, let us know how you make out. I'd also be interested in how much plumbers are getting in your area. Up here, the company I work for gets fifty eight an hour for a licensed guy and thirty eight for an apprentice. We're cheaper than most plumbers in the area. I guess other companies are charging sixty-five, seventy-five an hour for a licensed guy. My father owns the company I work for. We're a small shop, just my dad, me, an apprentice and the secretary in the office.

 

I appreciate everyone's replies. I am going to try the flapper one more time. I mean for $5, why not try this first. If this doesn't work, then I am going to replace everything inside the toilet. If that fails, then I will call a plumber out and see what he suggests. I am hoping I don't get to that as I think most plumbers around here typically charge $65/hour or more. It may be cheaper to just replace the whole thing.

Going back to the septic system, is everyone saying that a leaking toilet could NOT cause the system to fail, even after two to three years. I mean, I understand about the leaching fields, bacteria and water tables and all of the other factors that can affect a septic system, I did a lot of research when it failed but it makes sense to me that if the system is constantly being fed water, even the small amount from the toilet, over a period of time it could cause failure. I don't know exactly how much was being put in there per day, but after fixing my toilet the first time, my water bill dropped by $10 per month. Now I don't know how much we pay for usage but when we average $20 a month, you gotta figure it was a pretty significant amount.

 

Read your water bill. It should tell you exactly how many gallons you use.