How To Fix a Dripping Tap.

A dripping tap in the kitchen can be really annoying. The stainless steel sink amplifies the sound so you can hear it in the next room. Drumming away like some kind of ancient water torture ! But apart from that a dripping tap can waste 90 litres of water per week !

How to Fix a Dripping Tap

You will need:
Small flat bladed screwdriver
Medium flat bladed screwdriver
Medium Cross-head screwdriver
Adjustable spanner (or 21mm spanner)
A new tap washer of the correct size.

Tap repair Step 1: Turn off the water at the stopcock then open the tap to let the remaining water drain out. (there will still be some left in the tap -this can't really be avoided)














Tap repair step 2: Use the small screwdriver to pry the small cover off the tap revealing the screw hidden beneath.(See photo) and remove the screw. Once the screw has been undone the knob should lift easily off the tap.














Tap Repair Step 3: Once the knob has been removed you can see the metal tap assembly ( see photo). You will see that the outer housing has a hexagonal shaped section just alongside where it screws into the body of the tap. This hexagonal section allows us to remove the tap mechanism by unscrewing it with the adjustable spanner.














Tap repair Step 4: Now you have removed the tap assembly you will see the rubber washer with its retaining screw. Undo the screw and prise away the old washer and clean up any dirt or residue. Fit the new washer in its place. Don't be surprised if the new washer is a very snug fit on the central spigot – this is normal. Re-tighten the retaining screw (just nip it up, don't over-tighten it)





























Tap Repair step 5: Before you reassemble the tap make sure everything is clean and free of debris and that the outer seal of the tap is in place (if fitted). Screw the tap assembly into the main body and nip it up ( once again there's no need to over-tighten it)
















Tap Repair step 6: Refit the knob, tighten its screw and re-fit the cover. Open the stopcock and check everything works OK and that there are no leaks. Job done !

One thing that's worth mentioning is that when a tap starts to drip you can normally stop it dripping by over-tightening the tap when you turn it off. This works for a while , but if you keep doing it you will eventually damage the seat which the washer sits against. This is trickier to repair so its best to repair the tap now . After all a new washer costs next to nothing and as we have seen it only takes about 10 minutes to do.

So how much do we save ?
Well as we've already said a dripping tap can waste 90L per week which equates to 4680L per year ! That's € 4.61 per year all for the price of a little rubber washer ! (15cents)