Why won't my toilet stop running?
A continuously running toilet is typically caused by a faulty fill valve or a flapper that isn't sealing properly, allowing water to constantly leak into the bowl. This persistent flow wastes water and creates a loud, non-stop noise that disrupts sleep and daily quiet.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Replacing the flapper or fill valve assembly
- 2manually lifting the float arm
- 3turning off the water supply
- 4clearing debris from the fill valve
- 5replacing the fill valve completely
- 6Having the landlord replace it
- 7Replacing the toilet float part using a YouTube tutorial
- 8replacing the fill valve cap
- 9adjusting the float level
- 10replacing the flush valve seal
- 11doing a full toilet tank rebuild
- 12calling the building maintenance team
- 13Shutting off the toilet bowl water valve
- 14Adjusting the fill screw counter-clockwise
- 15Lifting the float to test if the water stops
- 16Rebuilding the tank multiple times with new kits
- 17Tightening tank-to-bowl bolts further
- 18Using a borescope camera to inspect for cracks
- 19Considering replacing the entire toilet due to the sunken cost fallacy
- 20adjusting the level of water on the fill valve
- 21changing or replacing the fill valve
- 22running a tap to stop the toilet from running
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“As you can see water continues to flow, can’t figure out how to stop it. Any ideas?”source ↗
“Im going to lose my mind. I have a Crane Galaxy toilet that's a few decades old in my guest bathroom. It was slowly leaking from the toilet tank into the toilet bowl. We replaced everything in the tank... and its not nearly as bad as it was but blue food coloring shows its still dripping from the tank into the bowl.”source ↗
“Any advice is appreciated...seriously...spent 2 days doing this.”source ↗
“Hi all! I need to change the cistern washer and first turn the water supply off. Is what I'm looking at a valve? If it is, how do I shut it off?”source ↗
“Does anyone know what I can do to fix it?”source ↗
“The toilet bowl tank started continuously running non-stop. It flushes okay.”source ↗
“I watched a short video and took a screwdriver to the thing on the left, going counter-clockwise, but it didn’t stop it at all.”source ↗
“I shut the toilet bowl water valve off for now. But what can I do?”source ↗
“All of it...took the tank off. Stripped every part off of it, and then got a Fluidmaster kit from Lowes with everything needed to rebuild a toilet.”source ↗
“Having an issue where at night my toilet is overflowing and leaking onto the floor from the integrated cistern.”source ↗
“As the title says, the toilet tank keeps refilling. It started about a week ago.”source ↗
“This is a rental. I can't buy an entirely new toilet.”source ↗
“Just put 2 new flappers on it this weekend...then did all new parts out of a fluidmaster kit...its still leaking.”source ↗