March 4, 2017

Why Has Your Tap Started To Drip?

If you have a tap in your home that is dripping it can be really irritating. A dripping tap is also the cause of a significant waste of water. It can sometimes be tempting to put off dealing with the issue of a dripping tap, but that it not a good idea. The problem is not going to solve itself. The longer you leave it, the more water you are wasting.

You may want to contact a plumber in Mosman about the problem. They can put their experience to use fixing it for you. If you want to have a go at fixing the problem yourself first we have put together some advice that you may find useful. This advice applies to traditional style taps, where the problem is usually caused by worn washers. If your taps are lever style you should check out this advice on how to change the cartridge; this should help put an end to the dripping.

Make sure that the water supply is switched off

Before you start to work on the tap that is causing the problem you should make sure that the water is switched off. You can do this either by finding the main stop valve for the house and turning off the supply at this point, or by switching the supply off at the isolation valve for the tap. There may be a little water left in the pipe, so it's a good idea to switch on the tap, to get rid of this water, before you start.

Uncovering the screw to dismantle the tap

In order to release th washers you need to turn the screw which enables the tap to be taken apart. If you remove the cap on the top of the tap and you should expose the screw. Before you start to release the screw make sure that the plug is in the sink, so that there is no danger of anything falling down the plug hole.

Using a spanner to release the spindle

Once the plug hole is covered you should unscrew the nut which holds the spindle in place. While you are doing this it's a good idea to keep hold of the spout of the tap so that it does not turn and make the job more difficult. There are two washers on the spindle and it's possible that one or both could be worn. You need to find a match for the washers at the store, and then go about replacing them.

Making sure the drip is fixed

Once you have replaced the washers you need to carefully put the tap back together again. Then it's just a case of switching the water supply back on and turning on the tap to see if the problem is resolved.

In most cases, you should find that replacing the washers stops the drip. If the problem persists then you should contact a professional plumber in order to identify the cause.

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