My cistern continually fills about every 4 minutes. This means there is water leaking into the pan. I cannot find out where the problem is, has anyone else had this problem. I am on a water metre which means it is costing me money and using too much water.

Mark, January 2011

The inlet valve of your cistern should stop the water coming in before it reaches the overflow level - you need to adjust it.

Either lower the float further into the water or - more usually - screw in the little nylon adjusting screw and be sure to tighten its little locknut else it will soon start to overflow again.

Sometimes - not often - the rubber in the valve perishes and needs to be replaced. Mostly a two minute adjustment gets it fixed...

Operate the mechanism - pull up on the lever arm - see how the float arm shuts off the inlet water. All pretty basic.

Peccavi, January 2011