We turn our faucets on and off so often that it shouldn’t surprise us when they begin to drip and leak. A leaking or dripping faucet in your kitchen or bathroom is usually a sign that a part is worn and needs to be replaced.

While a dripping faucet may seem like an annoyance you can live with, you should repair it. The leaky faucet will eventually stain your sink bowl and rust your fixtures. Plus, it wastes a lot of water, which is bad for your budget and the environment. In fact, a faucet that drips 5 times a minute wastes approximately 230 gallons a year!

Faucet repair:. If you’re the handy type, you may want to repair the faucet yourself. However, first you need to determine what type of faucet you have.

Compression faucets have washers and seals that can fail under constant pressure and can be replaced.
Disc faucets leak when the inlet and outlet seals where or when sediment builds up in the faucet inlets.