How A Couple Of Tennis Balls Will Help You Reduce The Cost Of Your Water Bill

Every time you flush the toilet, water (and, therefore, money) goes down the drain. It's a necessary step, but the cost does add up with every flush. One way to potentially reduce water use is to place a couple of tennis balls into the toilet tank. The tennis balls will help offset the amount of water present, allowing the toilet to flush in the same basic way, just with less water. That saves you money.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shares that toilets account for about 30% of a home's indoor water use. It also states the average toilet uses 1.6 gallons of water with every flush. By placing tennis balls into the toilet tank, you can lower that figure somewhat, allowing for significant financial savings throughout the year.

The amount you save depends on factors like how often the toilet is flushed, the size and style of the toilet, and the cost of water in your area. However, even if it's just a fraction of a cent per flush, that adds up each day and over the course of the year. It could mean hundreds of dollars in savings, not to mention the simple benefit of water conservation that's good for the planet itself.

A tennis ball is a lightweight and rather mid-sized ball. So how can a few of them save you money on your water bill? It's all about how a toilet works. When a toilet flushes, the water drains from the tank reservoir into the bowl to push material down. Then, the valve closes at the base of the tank, allowing the water in the tank to refill. The toilet's tank float, meanwhile, prevents water in the tank from filling too high and overflowing. Once the water reaches a certain level — as determined by the float — the toilet shuts off the water flow. The key to the tennis-ball hack is the toilet tank's water level and at what point the water stops filling.

A few tennis balls in the toilet's tank will obviously take up some room, and ultimately, they can fool the tank's float into thinking the water level has been reached much sooner. This is the same basic premise as using a toilet with a smaller tank. More water-efficient toilets are designed slightly differently to allow for water to flow down them quickly. They need less water to do so, aiding in water conservation efforts. Tennis balls are just a simpler way to do this than to change out the toilet in the bathroom.

If you have a couple of old tennis balls around the house that are still in good condition (you don't want to use anything that's broken that could clog the drain), simply place them into the base of the toilet tank. If you don't want to use tennis balls, you can use other items to displace the water present, including a bottle of water, a half-gallon plastic bag filled with water, or a specific toilet water displacement pouch from your home improvement store.

As for the tennis balls, position them at the bottom of the tank to the sides, where it's not near the opening of the toilet tank and valve. You don't want the balls to move around much in that area because they could lodge into the hole, creating a messy repair need. Place the balls in the tank right after you've flushed the toilet to allow the balls to sit and settle on the base. Don't put more than two balls into the tank for space reasons and because your toilet still needs to have enough water to allow for a full flush.

There are other ways to lower your water bill, too, like ensuring the flapper valve has a tight seal so no water leaks from it. You can also adjust the water level target, which would mean the float comes to the desired filled height sooner.