Dripping tap? Why it happens and how it is fixed

A dripping tap is easy to ignore, but a steady drip can waste thousands of litres of water over a year. On a water meter that's money down the drain, and a dripping hot tap wastes the energy used to heat it too.

Which kind of tap do you have?

How a tap gets fixed depends on what's inside it.

• Traditional taps take several full turns to open and close. They have a rubber washer that presses down to stop the water. When the washer wears, the tap drips.
• Quarter-turn taps go from off to fully on in a quarter or half turn. They use ceramic discs instead of a washer. When the discs wear or get scratched, the tap drips.
• Mixer taps with one lever use a cartridge inside the body. A worn cartridge causes drips and can make the temperature hard to control.

Hard water makes it worse

Most of Hertfordshire has very hard water. Limescale builds up on washers, discs and cartridges, stopping them sealing properly and making taps stiff. Cleaning the spout and aerator with a limescale remover helps, but it won't fix a worn part inside.

Repair or replace?

Most dripping taps can be repaired by replacing the washer, ceramic cartridge or mixer cartridge. It's usually worth replacing the tap instead if:

• it's old and parts are hard to find
• the body is damaged or corroded
• it's stiff, loose or leaking from the base as well as dripping
• you were thinking about a new style anyway

Before anyone works on a tap

The water needs to be turned off. Many kitchens and bathrooms have small isolation valves on the pipes under the sink: turn the slot a quarter turn with a flat screwdriver so it sits across the pipe. If there aren't any, the mains stopcock has to go off. Fitting isolation valves while a tap is being repaired makes the next job much easier.