Small Drip Detected
Potential Causes of a Small Drip
]Receiving a Small Drip Detected alert is the most common alert type and occurs after a MicroLeak Test (also known as a Health Test) is run. Small drips are often an early sign of vulnerability in the home plumbing system; so, identifying small drips early, and correcting vulnerabilities is an important part of proactively maintaining your home and avoiding catastrophic water failure. Most small drips are not necessarily dangerous in nature and are relatively easy to locate.
The alert is often caused by plumbing fixtures like:
- Toilets
- Faucets
- Shower heads
- Pool valves
- Ice makers
- Hose bibbs that weren’t closed well or may be using tiny amounts of water.
- Hoses that are not turned off at the hose bib, but only turned off by the hose sprayer
However, small drips in your home water system may also be early signs of vulnerability which may lead to pipe bursts, so properly diagnosing the culprit of this alert is crucial to maintaining a healthy home plumbing system.
The Flo Smart Water Shutoff detects even the smallest and slowest of leaks, so it's possible that you'll receive an alert, but not see any indication of water flow through the Control Panel in the Flo by Moen app. The Flo Smart Water and Shutoff can cath small drips through the Health Test that are too small for the flow sensor to pick up.
To find a small drip, take the following steps:
Look. Visually inspect the fixtures on your plumbing system.
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Visually Inspect the Following |
Troubleshooting |
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Inspect faucets, shower heads and hose bibbs for drips |
Tighten the handles to make sure everything is tightly closed.
Note: Hose bibs are a very common source of drips. If you keep your hose on and rely on the hose nozzle to retain the water, use the hose bibb to turn the water off instead. Hose nozzles allow water to drip out and can cause a MicroLeak Test to fail |
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Inspect your toilet fill tank |
A common cause for a slow drip is a bad toilet flapper. A bad flapper will result in the toilet’s fill valve to activate and fill the water that is repeatedly being lost. |
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Verify Flo is not installed backwards |
You can check this by looking at the Flo device and checking that the water flow indicators are aligned in the correct water flow direction.
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Verify Flo Smart Water Monitor and shutoff is installed on the home's main water supply line just after the existing shut off valve and pressure reducing valve. |
The Flo Smart Water Monitor and Shutoff should be installed before the plumbing system branches off into the different fixtures in the home. If Flo is in the incorrect position (installed before a PRV, pressure tank, pressure pump or any other device that alters pressure between the Flo and the Home), you will need to have a plumber correct it.
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Now, open your Control Panel in the Moen Smart Water Network app to run a MicroLeak Test. If it still detects a leak, move on to the next step.
2. Listen. Listen to your fixtures. Can you hear running water from the toilet? Toilet flappers often wear and tear over time and need to be replaced to ensure proper sealing. If you don’t hear anything, move on to the next step.
3. Stop. Isolate each fixture and re-run the MicroLeak Test from the Control Panel. Doing this will help you identify where the leak is occurring.
- Go to each fixture connected to your home’s plumbing system and turn off the angle stops. These are the shutoffs for each fixture. For faucets, be sure to turn off both the hot and cold water. While you are at each fixture to turn it off, check for drips or moisture.
Be sure to turn off every fixture, this includes: Faucets, toilets, outdoor bibs, pool valves, ice makers, home humidifier systems, drip irrigation, reverse osmosis water filters, misting systems, tankless water heaters, hot water re-circulation systems, Expansion Tanks and other fixtures.
When you turn off your toilet water lines, flush the toilet after to ensure the water tank does not fill back up again with water. If it does, tighten the angle stops (shut off) valve to your toilet.
Hot water re-circulation systems which are on year-round but are more active in the colder months. In these cases, the MicroLeak Test will create a false positive all season long.
- Re-run: the Health Test from the Control Panel.
- If Flo no longer detects a small drip, it came from one of the fixtures you closed.
- Turn on the water to 2 fixtures at a time and re-run the MicroLeak Test.
- If the MicroLeak Test is Successful, that means those fixtures did not cause the leak. Open 2 more fixtures and rerun the test until your MicroLeak Test fails or you have re-opened all fixtures.
- If the MicroLeak Test failed, turn off one of the 2 fixtures you opened and re-run the MicroLeak Test. The results of this MicroLeak Test will indicate which of the two fixtures where the leak occurred.
- If you have an irrigation system, consider shutting off your irrigation related components. If the irrigation to your home is connected to the plumbing from inside the home, it’s possible that Flo Smart Water Monitor and Shutoff is catching a leak in the irrigation system.
- A quick way to test if Flo Smart Water Monitor and Shutoff is covering any irrigation is to turn on the irrigation and check your Flo by Moen app for water flow. If you see water flowing, then that section of irrigation is included in your Microleak Test.
- Some irrigation will have a shut off right before, if you see one, try shutting off the water to the irrigation and re-run your Microleak Test. If you pass the test, the leak is caused by some component after the irrigation shut off. Take a look at your irrigation valves, to see if they’re leaking. Sometimes running the irrigation system while visually inspecting the valves will result in a visible leak. Contact your plumber, landscaper, or gardener for assistance in detecting and resolving irrigation related leaks.
- Ask. If you were not able to isolate the leak, that could mean that your leak is behind the walls, running through the attic, or beneath the ground. Remember, a leak can happen behind the wall and not just at the fixtures. If you are not able to identify and resolve the issue, consider contacting a licensed plumber to conduct a thorough inspection.