All About Toilet Fill Valves
Toilet fill valves are one of the most common issues when your toilet is leaking water. Read on to learn more about what kinds of valve you may have and when to call a professional if you have issues.
What Is a Toilet Fill Valve?
The toilet fill valve opens up the supply line to the toilet when levels go below the desired water level. You will typically find the toilet fill valve on the left side of the toilet tank. Part of the valve is in the tank itself, and a tailpiece extends from the toilet tank to the supply line (that also contains a shutoff valve). A toilet valve usually lasts at least five years.
How a Toilet Fill Valve Works
The toilet fill valve works in conjunction with the other components of your toilet. When you flush your toilet, the flapper opens, opening the flush valve. The water from the tank fills the toilet bowl. Once a certain amount of water goes into the toilet bowl, the flapper closes.
At this point, the tank is virtually empty. A toilet float, connected to the fill valve, falls to the bottom of the tank, opening the fill valve. When the fill valve opens, water from the supply line enters the toilet tank. As the water enters the tank, the float slowly makes its way back to the top of the tank, slowly closing the valve as the float rises.
There’s an overflow tube that prevents water from overflowing the tank in case the valve doesn’t completely close. Though this prevents the tank from spilling on the floor, your water bill can rise when you have a leaky fill valve.
Problems With the Toilet Fill Valve
The two main problems that you will experience with your toilet fill valve are water not entering your tank or too much water entering your tank.
If no water at all enters your tank, the first thing to consider is the shutoff valve. Is your shutoff valve open or closed? If the shutoff valve to your toilet appears to be in the appropriate position, check that you are getting water to the other fixtures in your home. If not, you may want to consider checking your home’s main shutoff valve outside and make sure there’s not a problem with your water source.
The toilet tank may also not fill up due to a leak at the supply line. You should be able to identify the problem rather quickly when you notice water dripping under your toilet. Sometimes, a leak may occur at an earlier point in your plumbing system, making it difficult to detect. In this case, you may notice poor water pressure to all of the different fixtures in your home.
Additionally, your supply line to your toilet may have a blockage for one reason or another. A blockage can occur thanks to excess sediment buildup or a foreign object stuck in the lines.
If the water doesn’t seem to stop entering your toilet, that means that, for some reason, the valve isn’t shutting. While the excess water may escape from the overflow tube, that will still create a high water bill very quickly.
In most cases, the valve won’t close completely due to the seal going bad. A plumber may need to create a better seal or replace the entire valve completely.
Professional Toilet Repair
Is your toilet giving you trouble and do you suspect a problem with the toilet fill valve? Don’t attempt to handle the situation yourself as it may lead to even more damage (and more expensive repairs).
Luckily, in most cases, you can schedule standard toilet repair plumbing services in South Charleston, West Virginia, and use the other toilets in your home until the repairman can fix the problem. You can shut off the water to the toilet in order to prevent constant running.
Mullen Plumbing, Heating and Cooling offers plumbing repair, heating services, and air conditioning services in South Charleston. Some of the services we offer include plumbing repair and installation (including faucets and toilets), water heaters, drain cleaning, back flow prevention, heating and cooling repair, heating and cooling installation, indoor air quality, and ductwork. If the water absolutely won’t stop running, or you don’t have any other toilets in the home, you can get emergency plumbing services at any time of the day or night. Call us today.
