Plumbing systems are complex. Understanding exactly how all of the plumbing in your home works requires a detailed understanding of fluid mechanics, a science that deals with how liquids and gases react, either statically or dynamically. We’re not going to delve too deeply into fluid mechanics right now, but trust us when we say that they can help explain why your toilet water is low.
For a more basic look, we can guess at four common reasons your toilet water may be low: your fill valve needs adjusting, there’s a partial clog in your toilet, your vent stack needs cleaning, or your toilet bowl is cracked.
Adjusting fill valves is something you can do yourself; Kohler has a simple guide on adjusting two types of fill valve you’ll commonly see. You may also have a damaged fill tube or fill valve; these parts are relatively simple to replace, but if you need our help, you can always give us a call. There are a number of guides available online, and if you follow them closely there’s little risk of damaging your toilet with this DIY project.
When people hear about a clogged toilet, they’re most likely thinking of a quick fix: just plunge the toilet bowl. In this case, we’re talking about a partial clog in the inlet holes. These holes are located just under the lip of the toilet bowl, so you’ll need a mirror to try and see if they’re clogged. If they are, you can pour hot vinegar into your toilet’s overflow tube (located in the tank). Let it sit for about an hour, then flush.
The clogged vent stack is where we start to delve into trickier plumbing problems. You can often tell that the vent stack is clogged if using water in one part of your bathroom affects another – you may notice water levels in your toilet bowl change when you run your bathtub, or gurgling coming from one fixture when water drains down another. You can unclog the vent stack yourself, but it means getting up on the roof – if you’re not comfortable doing that, we definitely are. From there, obvious obstructions to the stack are removed, and a plumbing snake can be used to get to deeper clogs.
A cracked toilet bowl – well, you’re pretty much going to need a new toilet. You could try to patch it with porcelain epoxy, but given that the crack is draining your toilet bowl, it’s probably below the water line, and that means epoxy is going to be a very temporary fix. Instead, get in touch with us for our Winnipeg plumbing services. We can help you find a great toilet to replace your old one (maybe even an eco-friendly model), remove the broken toilet, and install the new one.
