Leak Drip Loss Calculator
Count how often a faucet drips and see the gallons, liters, and dollars that adds up to over a day, a month, and a year.
Estimated loss
How the estimate works
Rather than guess a single drop's volume — which varies a lot by fixture and by how worn a washer is — this calculator scales linearly from a commonly cited reference point: about 3 gallons a day for a faucet dripping once per second (60 drips a minute). Your drip rate is compared against that reference and scaled proportionally, then converted to liters and projected out to a month and a year.
If you enter a water rate (check a recent bill for your combined water-and-sewer charge per 1,000 gallons), the tool also estimates what that drip is costing you annually — often enough on its own to justify a $2 washer and ten minutes with a wrench.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is drips-per-minute converted into gallons?
The calculator is anchored to a widely cited reference point: a faucet dripping about once per second — 60 drips a minute — wastes roughly 3 gallons a day. That fixes a scale of 0.05 gallons per day for every drip-per-minute, so a slower or faster drip scales up or down from that same reference rather than assuming one fixed drop size, since actual drop volume varies by fixture and by how worn the washer is.
How do I count my own drip rate?
Time drips for 10 or 15 seconds with a phone stopwatch and multiply up to a per-minute rate (a 10-second count times 6, or a 15-second count times 4). Counting for a full minute directly is more accurate if the drip is irregular.
Is a slow drip really worth fixing?
At one drip per second the estimate works out to roughly 1,000 gallons a year from a single faucet — enough to fill several bathtubs for something that looks trivial. A worn washer or O-ring is usually a cheap, quick fix, which is why leak repair is one of the highest-value, lowest-effort water-saving projects in a home.
Does this account for a running toilet or a pipe leak?
No — this tool is specifically for a dripping faucet or fixture measured in drips per minute. A running toilet or a hidden pipe leak wastes water on a different scale entirely and is usually found by checking the water meter when nothing in the house is running, or by adding a few drops of food coloring to the toilet tank to see if it seeps into the bowl without flushing.
Educational estimate only. Actual drop volume varies by fixture and wear; if a leak is significant or won't stop, shut off the supply valve and call a licensed plumber.