Drip. Drip. Drip.

A leaking tap is more than an annoying sound. It can actually cost you money. An unchecked leaking tap will add as much as 20,000 litres of water to your water bill annually.

There are three places from where a tap can leak: from the tap washer, through the spout where the spindle screws into the head and around the body washer.

There are a huge variety of taps and fixtures on the market, and it’s important that the correct fixtures are used to repair the leak.

It can be quite difficult to fix a leaking tap. Inexperienced home owners and tenants of rental properties should be careful before undergoing even basic plumbing work – the risk of flooding and damage to pipework under sinks and behind walls could make it a costly DIY project.

In some parts of Australia there are strict regulations about what plumbing jobs you are allowed to do yourself. While, in general, routine repairs to taps are allowed, in Queensland for example, you are allowed to replace a washer in a tap, but not the actual tap. Rules are also different for homeowners and tenants.

So before you head to the hardware store, check what the regulations are for your part of the country.