A dripping tap is easy to ignore, until you see the water bill. A single leaking tap can waste thousands of litres a year, and it’s often a quick, inexpensive fix — something we see constantly in the older housing stock around Rozelle, Balmain, and Lilyfield.
What causes a tap to leak
Most leaks come down to a worn washer, O-ring, or valve cartridge inside the tap. Over time, constant use and mineral build-up in Sydney’s water wear these components down. Mixer taps and older two-handle taps fail slightly differently, but the root cause is almost always a worn internal part — and it’s especially common in the federation and 1930s-era homes found throughout Leichhardt and Annandale.
Can you fix it yourself?
If you’re comfortable turning off your water supply and don’t mind a bit of trial and error, replacing a washer is a manageable DIY job on older-style taps. Modern mixer taps with ceramic disc cartridges are trickier, and getting the wrong part can mean starting over.
When it’s worth calling in a professional
If the leak is coming from the base of the tap rather than the spout, if you’ve already tried a washer replacement and it’s still dripping, or if it’s a mixer tap, it’s usually faster and cheaper in the long run to have a licensed plumber diagnose and fix it properly the first time. We cover Rozelle, Balmain, Birchgrove, and the surrounding Inner West suburbs for exactly this kind of job.
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