If you're a business owner, you probably do everything you can to save money. It's simply good business practice not to throw money away, but if you own or manage a commercial building as part of your business, you may be doing just that. If you're not doing everything you can to conserve water and maintain the plumbing in your building, then you're simply wasting money.

Here are three ways for a business to stop flushing money down the toilet.

Install New Toilets

Whether you have a lot of toilets in the restroom at your place of business or just a few, you should install water-conserving toilets if you want to save money. Older toilets use anywhere from 3 to 7 gallons of water every time they get flushed.

This means that if each of your employees goes to the bathroom 3 times a day, they are using up to 21 gallons of water during their shift. When you multiply this by the number of employees you have, water usage really adds up. New toilets use only up to 1.6 gallons of water per flush.

Stop Toilets from Leaking

Besides older toilets that use more water per flush, another water waster is a leaking toilet. In fact, toilets that have a slow leak can waste 30 gallons of water a day, and ones with a large leak can waste up to 4,000 gallons of water in one day. Toilets leak when certain parts, such as the seals, flush valves, and fill valves, are old and no longer worker like they should.

Some signs of a leaking toilet include:

  • Water continues to run after the toilet gets flushed
  • The floor around the toilet is wet
  • There are trickling sounds coming from the toilet

If you don't notice any of these signs, but you do know your water bill is higher than it should be, you can also tell if a toilet is leaking by dropping food coloring into the tank. If you see dye in the bowl 15 minutes later, it means the toilet leaking.

Don't Flush Certain Things Down the Toilet

Properly maintaining the toilets in your commercial building is another way to save money. One simple way to maintain your toilets is to not use them as a trash can. When certain things like feminine products, disposable wipes, and tissue paper get flushed down the toilet, it could clog up the pipes and produce a plumbing nightmare.

Plumbing contractors charge anywhere from $109 to $273 to unclog a toilet. It may be more, depending on the severity of the clog.

For more tips or if you need repairs for the toilets in your business, contact local plumbing contractors