Your Garden Hose Could Be Quietly Adding to Your Water Bill

A close inspection of the garden hose connection can reveal worn washers, loose fittings, and other small leaks that waste water and increase utility costs. Checking the hose, spigot, and attachments regularly can catch problems before they become expensive – Shutterstock

A garden hose can look perfectly innocent while quietly sending money down the drain. A worn washer, loose connection, damaged fitting, or hose left running longer than necessary can turn an ordinary watering session into an easy-to-miss source of water waste.

The sneaky part comes from where many hose leaks happen: right at the spigot. Water may trickle behind a shrub, disappear into mulch, or spray only when the hose bends a certain way, making the problem easy to overlook until the water bill arrives looking suspiciously plump. The good news is that most hose-related waste does not require an expensive plumbing project, and a few minutes of inspection can reveal a problem before it becomes a bigger one.