Our bathtub faucet leaks about a drip per second and my wife swears its costing us 20 bucks per month on our water bill…..is this possible? Does a drip like that really add up to that much water?

My grandmother’s house is vacant, and luckily I just happened to check on it just a day or so after the furnace’s thermostat broke. Especially lucky because the outdoor temperature dropped to an extremely low 1 degree that night!

The temperature was 44 degrees when I replaced the thermostat, and a faucet far from the main part of the house was already dry due to freezing. Water was still running in the main part of the house where the bathtub is. (I didn’t try the bathub faucet.)

The next day the indoor temperature was still only 56 degrees and the water was stopped at EVERY faucet. I changed the thermostat so that the furnaced ran at the higher setting (stage 2). And I closed an outdoor access door to the crawl space.

The next day water was available from all faucets.

Unfortunately, cold water was coming out the bathtub faucet even though the valves were closed. Not just a drip, but a steady stream. Far from full force, though.

Can you explain how this is possible?

The house is 100 years old, but the faucet and valves are modern (about 7 years old). I don’t know if the plumbing itself is updated, or if it’s just new fittings. The fittings look like those in this picture:

http://www.viewpoints.com/images/review/2007/321/19/1195349332-39443_full.jpg

A major difference is that grandma’s tub doesn’t have the middle valve, and there is a thing to pull up on the faucet to redirect the water to the shower head. I’m told that the ones in this picture are Gerber fittings, and that Gerber knobs can be retrofitted on old plumbing. (I’m not positive if Grandma’s fittings are Gerber — just that they look like them.)
Thank you both for your helpful answers. I wish I could split the points!

The bathtub has the 3 faucets 1 for hot 1 for cold and the middle one to switch the water to go from shower head to tub . After I turn the water off it continues dripping from the the tub faucet and from the middle one where I can switch the water to come out of the shower head or tub. Also when using the shower I have a lot of water coming out from the middle faucet I have tried tightening and they are tight and still drip. What else can I do ?