One drip a second wastes over 3,000 litres a year. Most of the time, the fix takes five minutes once you know what’s actually failed.
The Usual Cause
Older taps seal with a rubber or fibre washer that hardens and wears with age until it stops sealing properly. Newer mixer taps use a ceramic disc cartridge instead — it lasts a lot longer, but it doesn’t wear gradually. It goes from fine to constantly dripping with no warning in between.
Other Things It Could Be
An O-ring gone, especially if the leak’s around the handle rather than the spout — often shows as dampness at the base when the tap’s running. Loose valve seating, causing a trickle even with the tap fully shut. Pressure that’s higher than normal, turning a tiny washer fault into a steady drip instead of an occasional one. And in a hard water area like Harpenden, limescale round the valve seat can stop it closing flush, which drips even when the internal parts are otherwise fine.
What You Can Try
Isolate the water to that tap first — most sinks have a valve underneath, otherwise it’s the main stopcock. Get a photo of the tap and note the brand if you can see it; parts are tap-specific, and matching one against a photo saves a wasted trip. A hardware shop or plumbers’ merchant can usually match it. Getting to the washer or cartridge itself is normally just a screwdriver and an adjustable spanner, though it varies by tap.
When It’s a Job for Someone Else
The tap’s a modern sealed-cartridge mixer, not built for a DIY swap. You’ve already replaced the part and it’s still dripping. There’s any softness or staining in the cabinet or wall behind the sink. Or the tap’s old enough that finding a matching part isn’t straightforward.
Beyond the wasted water, a constant drip stains the basin with limescale that only gets harder to shift, and in a kitchen sink it can eventually overflow a blocked plughole stacked with dishes. It’s a small job. It just gets more annoying the longer it sits.
If a dripping tap in your Harpenden home needs sorting properly, get in touch — no repeat callouts for the same drip.
