I recently noticed some water coming out of the hole where the handle is on my toilet. Curious, I decided to take a peek. When I took the lid off of the back of the toilet and flushed, water started spraying out of the top of the float valve. I put the lid back on, flushed again, and I could see a small stream of water coming out of the handle. I see two ways of approaching this, but I would like to get your recommendations.
I suspect that this has been happening for a while, perhaps even before the previous tenants (this is in an apartment complex).
- Buy some sort of gasket or plug to put in the hole where the handle goes in to prevent water from coming out
- Buy a new float valve, and see if it still occurs.
Because this is an apartment complex, I'm a bit weary about buying a new float valve. I am also a fairly new into living on my own, and perhaps don't know the proper terminology. Is option 1 feasible, and if it is, do I have the proper terminology, or is there a more appropriate alternative?
Here is an image of the float valve
Here is an image of it spraying
And the trail of water on the tank
Best Answer
The seal at the top of the valve has failed. Normally a small portion of the incoming water should go through that small tube off the side, while the rest of it should come out the bottom of the valve. None of it should be sprayed about like that.
If it were my toilet I'd see if I could take that top off and try to fix the seal, but I wouldn't try very hard, because it looks like a cheesy valve, and new ones are around $10-$15. If it were my landlord's toilet I'd tell the landlord about it. A good way to prompt some action would be to note that the toilet is leaking and probably causing damage to the floor.