What a dripping faucet wastes and what causes it
If your faucet will not shut off or a supply line is spraying, call our 24/7 line now. While you wait, turn the small oval-handled stop valve under the sink clockwise until the water stops. If there is no stop valve, or it will not turn, close the main shutoff for the house and set a bucket under the leak.
Faucet repair means replacing the worn part inside a tap, usually a rubber washer, O-ring, seat or cartridge, or replacing the whole fixture when the body has corroded. A drip starts when that part no longer seals against the pressure behind it. Older two-handle taps wear out washers, and single-handle taps wear out cartridges.
The waste is not only water. Ocoee's residential water rate rises in steps as monthly use climbs, so the gallons lost at the top of your bill cost the most. A leak at the base of the spout also soaks the cabinet floor below, and a drip that is really a leak inside the wall needs leak detection, not a new washer.
Look for replacement faucets and cartridges marked as meeting NSF/ANSI 61, the national standard for materials that touch drinking water.
Which faucet you have decides the repair
The fix depends on how the valve inside is built. Tell us the brand and what the handle does when the drip starts.
| Faucet type | Common failure | Usual repair |
|---|---|---|
| Two-handle compression (older sinks, some tubs) | Worn washer or seat drips from the spout, and worn packing leaks under the handle | New washer and packing, then resurface or replace the seat |
| Single-handle cartridge (most newer kitchens and baths) | Worn cartridge or O-rings cause drips, a stiff or loose handle, and mixed-up hot and cold | New cartridge and O-rings, a quick swap when the model is common |
| Tub and shower valve | Stripped or worn cartridge, a handle that will not shut off, a leak at the wall plate | Pull and replace the cartridge, or replace the valve body if the wall allows |
| Outdoor hose bib | Worn stem packing, a leak behind the handle, a cracked body, a hose stuck on the threads | New packing or a new spigot, plus a check of any backflow device on it |
Parts for some imported and designer fixtures are hard to find. When a cartridge is discontinued, replacing the faucet is usually the better repair.
Water still running at the faucet?
Close the stop valve, then call and tell dispatch what the handle is doing.
Faucet will not shut off or a line is spraying
Some faucet problems cannot wait for a regular business day. These four send water out faster than a bucket can catch it.
Handle turns but water keeps running
A stripped or broken cartridge no longer closes the port. Shut the stop valve under the sink, or the main shutoff for a tub or shower, and stop forcing the handle.
Supply line spraying under the sink
Braided hoses fail at the crimp or the nut. Close the stop valve, then check the cabinet floor, because wet particleboard swells and breaks down fast.
Water coming through the wall or ceiling below
A leak behind a tub or shower valve is inside the wall. A technician must open the wall to reach it, so cutting the water early limits the damage.
The stop valve will not turn
Old stops seize with mineral crust and can snap if forced. Do not lean on them with pliers. Use the main shutoff and tell dispatch the valve is stuck.
If you are on Ocoee Utilities water, the city maintains the system up to and including the meter, and you maintain everything from the meter to the house. A break on the street side is the city's, and its Utilities page lists 407-428-5766 as an After Hours Emergency number.
Anything downstream of the meter is work we dispatch for. Same-day appointments are available when the schedule allows, and after-hours calls go to a licensed plumber when the water cannot be stopped.
Signs a faucet needs repair before it fails
Most faucets warn you for weeks. Catching the warning turns a night call into a planned visit.
Drips after the handle is off
Water is slipping past a worn seal. It will not stop by itself, and it speeds up as the seat erodes.
Handle feels loose, stiff or gritty
A worn cartridge or a stripped handle screw. Gritty movement often means scale inside the cartridge.
Weak flow or a spray that goes sideways
Often a clogged aerator, the small screen at the spout tip. Unscrew it and rinse it. If one tap stays weak, the supply line or stop valve is next.
What a faucet visit covers, in order
We do not diagnose a faucet by phone. We ask about the brand, the handle type and where the water shows, so the technician knows what to look for.
Stop the water and look around
The technician closes the stop valve or main, then checks the stop valves, supply lines and drain connections before touching the faucet. A tired stop valve is often blamed on the fixture.
Pull the part and test the repair
Handle, cap and retaining nut come off, and the cartridge, washer or seat is checked for wear and scoring. After the repair, hot and cold are run, and the stop valves are checked for full shutoff.
Repair or replace
Repair when the body is sound and the part is available. Replace when the body is pitted or cracked, the seat is scored past resurfacing, the cartridge is discontinued, or repeat repairs cost close to a new faucet. A toilet that keeps running is a different fault, handled under toilet repair.
What drives the cost of a faucet repair
The same drip can be a short part swap or a job that opens a wall.
Homeowners policies typically respond to sudden and accidental water damage, and not to wear, gradual leaks or the faucet itself. A tap that failed this morning is treated differently from a drip that ran for months. Ask your insurer before you decide, and photograph any damage.
Ocoee water, purple lines and hose bibs
Four local facts change how faucet and spigot work is judged here.
Moderate water hardness
Ocoee Utilities' 2025 water quality report lists hardness at 5 to 6 grains per gallon, which the report's own scale calls moderate. That is enough for scale to clog aerators and cartridges over time, so rinse aerators now and then. Forest Lake Estates is served by Orange County, so check which utility bills you.
Purple reclaimed lines are not drinking water
The city says reclaimed water is not drinking water and that cross connections between reclaimed and potable plumbing are not allowed. Its reclaim pipe and meter boxes are marked purple. Never fill a drinking container from a spigot on a purple line, and if you cannot tell which line a spigot feeds, ask Utilities at 407-905-3159.
Hose bibs and backflow
Orange County Utilities' guide for its own customers names garden hose cases such as spraying lawn chemicals and filling a pool with the hose end underwater. In both, dirty water can flow backward into the house supply. A hose bib that leaks at the stem needs repair, not tape.
Where the city's pipe ends
The city's service request form puts the meter and the system up to it on the city, and everything from the meter to the house on the customer. A dripping tub valve or spigot is yours to fix. A leak at the meter box or the street side is not.
If a new fixture is the better answer, see plumbing installation. Our plumbers also work faucet and spigot calls in Windermere, with the same day and night dispatch.
Faucet questions Ocoee homeowners ask
Yes. A tap that will not close does not wait for Monday, and neither does our dispatch line. Call, say whether water is still running, and we will tell you what to shut off while a licensed plumber is sent.
For a slow drip that is not flooding anything, ask about a same-day appointment when available.
Often yes, for a washer or cartridge swap, if the stop valve closes fully and the handle comes off cleanly. Stop when the stop valve will not turn, a part is cross-threaded, or the body is corroded.
Forcing a seized part usually turns a drip into a spray.
No. The city states that reclaimed water is not drinking water. Do not drink from it, fill pet bowls from it, or connect it to house plumbing.
If you are unsure which line an outdoor spigot is on, call Ocoee Utilities at 407-905-3159 before using it.
Yes. Close the main shutoff first if water keeps running. The technician removes the handle, checks the cartridge and replaces it, or replaces the valve body when the cartridge cannot be matched.
If the leak shows on a wall or ceiling, expect some opening to reach it.
Yes. Spigots usually need new packing or a new unit, and a hose that will not unscrew can mean damaged threads. A garage or laundry sink faucet is repaired the same way as a kitchen tap, with extra attention to the drain and supply lines under it.