Use the free Faucet Drip Waste Calculator below: your data never leaves your browser — all work happens on your device, and nothing is uploaded to any server.
What this tool does
A dripping tap looks harmless: one drop at a time, barely a sound, easy to ignore for months. Add those drops up over a year, though, and a single leaking tap can waste thousands of litres, along with the money and energy used to heat the hot ones. This free faucet drip waste calculator turns a one-minute drip count into daily and yearly waste, so you can see whether that drip is worth fixing this weekend or can wait.
Count the drips for exactly one minute, using a watch or phone timer, and count only one tap at a time. Enter the drips per minute and the number of leaking taps, then press Calculate. The tool assumes each drip is zero point one five millilitres, a common planning figure, and converts your count into litres per day, litres per year, and gallons per day. If the drip is a thin stream rather than separate drops, counting will understate the waste, so treat the result as a minimum in that case.
The arithmetic is straightforward. Sixty drips per minute, which is one drip per second, gives sixty times sixty times twenty-four times zero point one five millilitres, which is twelve point nine six litres per day, or about three point four gallons per day. Multiply by three hundred and sixty-five and you get about four thousand seven hundred and thirty litres per year from one tap. Ten drips per minute gives only two point one six litres per day, while a fast drip of one hundred and twenty per minute wastes nearly twenty-six litres a day. The difference between a slow drip and a fast one is the difference between a nuisance and a real bill.
Take a home with two taps dripping at sixty drops per minute each. The tool gives about twenty-five point nine litres per day, or roughly nine thousand four hundred and sixty litres per year, which is more than most people expect from two small drips. If one of those taps is hot, the waste is worse, because you also pay to heat water that never reaches a sink. Compare that with the fix: a replacement washer or cartridge often costs very little and takes under an hour, so even a moderate drip usually pays for its repair many times over within a year.
Fixing a drip starts with finding the cause. A worn washer, a damaged cartridge, or a loose valve seat are the usual suspects, and the right part depends on the tap type, so take the old part to the shop or photograph it first. Turn the water off at the isolation valve before you start, and if there is no isolation valve, turn off the main supply. If the tap is old, seized, or part of a complex mixer, or if the drip comes from a pipe joint rather than the spout, call a plumber: forcing a seized tap can turn a drip into a flood. After the fix, count again for a minute to confirm the drip has truly stopped.
How do I count drips accurately? Count for a full minute rather than counting ten seconds and multiplying, because drip rates vary and short counts magnify errors. Is a hot tap drip worse than a cold one? Yes, because hot water costs energy as well as water, so fix hot drips first. Can a drip damage anything besides the bill? Yes, a constant drip can stain a sink or bath, wear a groove over time, and in a home left empty it can mask a larger leak, so a drip is worth investigating even when the volume looks small.
Important limits: an estimate, not a code approval
Every result on this page is an educational estimate only. It is not professional advice and it does not guarantee compliance with any building, plumbing, gas, or safety code. Local rules, soil, climate, pipe material, and the condition of an existing system can change the correct answer, and this tool cannot see any of those things. Gas work must be done by a licensed professional and checked against local gas codes; never size, install, or alter gas pipework from an online estimate. For any real installation, repair, or purchase decision, consult a licensed plumber or carpenter first, and get a second opinion when the job is large, expensive, or safety-critical. Use this tool to plan, compare, and ask better questions — not as a substitute for a qualified person on site.
Also available in Spanish: Spanish version.