Dripping Tap Calculator
Count the drips per minute, enter your water price and how long the tap drips each day. The calculator turns a quarter-millilitre nuisance into litres and money per year - and shows the one-drip-per-second scare figure for scale.
Plumbing sites quote a washer and van call-out. This one prices the drip first: the bathtub-a-month arithmetic, the hot-tap doubling most calculators skip, and the overnight meter test that finds the leaks you have not met yet.
How to use
- Count drips for 15 seconds, multiply by four - or trust your ears: audible-at-night is around 100 a minute.
- Enter your water price per cubic metre from the bill; halve the hours if it is a tap you mostly close.
- Compare the yearly figure with a ten-minute washer fix, then run the overnight meter test for hidden leaks.
Frequently asked questions
How much water does a dripping tap waste?
One drip per second is roughly 7,900 litres a year - a bathtub every fortnight. Sixty drips a minute, the audible-at-night class, doubles that; each drip carries about a quarter millilitre and the year multiplies it mercilessly.
Does a hot tap dripping cost more?
Yes - you pay for the water and the heating: gas or electric re-warming replaces what escapes, roughly doubling the bill versus a cold drip. Hot taps also scale up faster, so they fail sooner and drip harder.
Can I fix a dripping tap myself?
Usually: isolate the supply, and either swap the rubber washer (traditional taps) or the ceramic cartridge (modern mixers) - a five to ten minute job with parts under ten units. Hard water taps may need a descale while open.
How do I check for hidden water leaks?
The overnight meter test: read the meter last thing at night with every appliance and tap off, read again before morning use. Any movement means water escapes somewhere - fittings, cisterns, or the supply pipe itself.