How To Fix Low Water Level In Your Toilet with No Tools

Low water level in your toilet? No problem! I'm going to show you how to fix it. And the best part is: no tools required!. 

You may notice at some point when flushing your toilet that not much water got down into the bowl to flush everything down. Today I'm going to show you the different parts of your toilet and how adjusting your fill valve/float can give you more water on each flush to help get that waste down the drain! Even if you don’t have low water levels, it’s always good to make sure your toilets are flushing properly with the right amount of water.

First thing to do is remove the lid of your tank and take a good look inside. Be careful as you don't want to drop it, I see this happen all too often! Once you’ve got that off, go ahead and set it onto something soft like carpet or towel so it's away from any potential accidents while still being accessible. The water level should be approximately one inch below the tube in the middle of the tank. 

First, let me tell you all the parts of the toilet.

On the left, you’ve got your fill valve. The fill valve is what actually controls the water flow. If you push it down, you can hear the water running, like it’s flushing. This piece is saying: “Hey we need water to fill up the tank”

Fill Valve:

On the right, you’ve got your overflow tube and then below that is your fill tube. The fill tube is what is going to keep your water down there and keep your trap full.

Overflow Tube:

Fill Tube:

The piece down here at the bottom that goes up and down is called your flapper, and it is connected to your flush valve. We call it a valve because you use it as a lever to open your flapper in order to let the water go into your bowl.

The Flapper:

The Flush Valve:

Now, I'm going to teach you how to adjust your water levels if you don’t have enough water in there, with no tools! The water level should be approximately one inch below the tube in the middle of the tank. Some toilet tanks have a marker for where the water level should be. If the water is lower than this you will need to adjust the float inside of the tank which will then raise the water level.

How much water fills up the tank and the time it takes for the tank to fill up is dependent on your float. So if you raise the float, it will allow your tank to fill up for a longer time. Grab a screwdriver, a butter knife, whatever you can use to turn the adjustment screw on the float clockwise to raise it up. Now that you have your float raised, flush your toilet and the water level should rise.

Adjustment Screw:

The two things in your toilet that commonly need to be replaced in your toilet are your fill valve and your flapper. And these are also things that you can do yourself.

So there you have it. You don’t need to be a plumber or handyman to fix your low water level issue in your toilet tank- all you need is a screwdriver and about 5 minutes of time. And if you still feel like this is something you can’t handle, or simply don’t want to tackle yourself for one reason or another, be sure to check out my YouTube channel for more tips on how to save money and get the job done right in the trades. 

Watch the full video!