I am getting water leaking from the toilet handle- why would this happen and how do I go about lowering the water level?

Your water level is way to high if you are leaking from the handle. Ballcocks vary a great deal. Can you describe your mechanism for us? If you have a ball on a brass rod you could do a jury rig adjustment and bend the rod down in the middle of the shaft.

No ball on a rod Matt... just 2 flaps that open and close when flushed.

Susan,

Ballcocks come in two flavors. A ball on a rod or a can on a wire. One flap that you describe would be the flapper that opens and closes the flush valve. This is part of the flush mechanism and has no part of the fill. Describe the other one. Regards, Tom

The flapper is dead center in the tank. Off to one side is the supply line entering the tank. The ballcock is attached just above the inlet. There should be something that moves several inches up and down when you flush, that's the float. Can you describe what you see and what it is made from? Back to you.

Ballengerb,
The supply line does not have a ball cock above it. It sort of looks like a flap but it is screwed down at the bottom of the tank. It has a round dial on it and it turns both ways. It feels like there is a spring attached to the dial.

I'm lost at this point but Spoeedball1 is on the line. He probably knows what you are describing. Sorry

Speedball wishes he did. If there's a ballcock that doesn't have some kind of a float switch shut off I want to see it. Now we need a picture or at the very least a exact description. Give me a name that I can research. Two flaps just don't get it. Regards, Tom

You have a water inlet at the left, rear of the tank. Somewhere you have a float that controls a valve. Is one of the flaps thick enough to be a float? Does it leak for a while right after it refills then stop? That means the float is set too high. If it doesn't leak until a while after it refills, but keeps leaking, the valve is leaking. Take the lid off and see if water is seeping out of a tube.

Post back with all the details and let Tom tell you how to fix it.

One other option is to rip out whatever you have, and replace it with the whole new works. Even if Tom is able to identify what you have, you may not be able to find parts you need. You should have a valve below the toilet. Shut it off. Remove the line. Remove the nut from under the bottom of the tank. The whole works should then pull out. Take it to a good hardware, Ace, True Value, etc. not Lowe's, etc. Tell them you want whatever they have that will work in its place.

The valve you have is a valve that is controlled by the weight of the water above it, the dial that you see is suppose to make it possible to raise and lower the lever of the water. It has been my experience that they begin to add a little more water over time, hence the problem of the water running out of the handle hole. I also have found that after a time they get to the point that they will not cut off at all and will overfill your tank.
These valves are not OK to use under under any plumbing code because they are a direct cross connection. The best thing you can do is to have it replaced or if you feel like you can you can do it yourself. A Fluidmaster 400 is a good one to use or a Coastmaster 10inch is also good. The Fluidmaster has the can that speedball mentioned and the Coastmaster has the old time rod and float ball that I like best.
I hope this gets there in time to help you. Good Luck.

A big THANKS to letmetellu for jogging my memory. We outlawed these suckers(see left hand image) years ago in my area. I didn't realize any were still around.

Susan, Take his advice and have it replaced. Good luck, Tom