A running toilet wastes water: how to spot it and get it fixed

A toilet that keeps running can leak up to 60,000 litres a year. How to test for it, what fails inside the cistern and who can legally fix it.

A plumber answers 24/7.

Key takeaways

Hunter Water says a continuously running toilet can leak up to 60,000 litres of water a year.
A few drops of food dye in the cistern reveal a silent leak: if colour reaches the bowl without a flush, the cistern is leaking.
Cistern repairs are not on the short list of jobs an owner may do without a licence, but turning off the toilet's stop tap to stop the waste is fine.
In a NSW rental, a fitting that wastes a substantial amount of water counts as an urgent repair.