Taps hard to adjust

I have a problem with both my outside taps. They're hard to adjust.

The tap turns freely and plenty of water comes out when turned on so no problem there. But when I want only a small flow of water it's very difficult to adjust.

In parts of the garden I can't see the sprinkler from where the tap is and it's those parts where I want to turn it on only a little bit to water the garden beds etc. So I turn the tap on, walk to the sprinkler and have a look, back to the tap to adjust, back to the sprinkler and so on.

Trouble is I'm getting just a bit too much exercise doing this because the taps are "fiddly" to adjust. Turn it on a bit and not much comes out. A bit more and still the same. Then a bit more and it's going full blast. Then turn it down a bit an still going full blast. Then slightly more down and it almost stops. This makes it very hard to adjust the water flow without drenching the neighbours etc. Good exercise though but anyone watching must be wondering why I'm walking backwards and forwards in the garden.

Sometimes turning it down slightly actually increases the water flow and vice versa. All this is a real nuisance.

Is there a certain type of washer I can put in that will fix this? All I want is a nice even control of the water flow. Turn the tap up slightly and the flow increases slightly etc so I can adjust the flow to suit the area being watered without having to mess about to get it right. That's how my previous outside taps have worked.

Change the washer, re-saet the tap, use a non-water based lubricant on the washer/ tap assembly.

This should fix it- I'm thinking that the washer is sticking inside the body of the tap and seat.

Or it might be easier cost $20 per tap- go to bunnings and buy new taps.

Sprinkler?? There's a blast from the past. I reckon we will be kept in water denial even once the dams are 100% full.

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Originally Posted by Make it work

Sprinkler?? There's a blast from the past. I reckon we will be kept in water denial even once the dams are 100% full.

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No problems here. I can run the sprinkler any time of day or night 7 days a week with no restrictions. Likewise I can wash the car, hose the driveway and do anything else I want with the water.

99% of the supply is still running into the sea unused. It's pumped from downstream of a hydro-electric plant and just goes to waste if not used. Whilst the dams aren't anywhere near full, that's due to power generation not water supply so water restrictions etc wouldn't do anything much to help. We could foreseeably end up with electricity shorages if the drought continues but a water shortage would need a 99% drop in flow to happen which is unlikely.

That said, the council may impose restrictions if deemed necessary due to system overload, equipment failure etc. Also ALL outdoor water use is completely banned whenever a total fire ban is declared as a precaution to make sure there's enough capacity left with the pumps, pipes etc for fire fighting if needed.

Also they can install a meter and send bills for water if usage is deemed "excessive" in the opinion of the council. In practice they don't worry about it unless they think something funny is going on and you're wasting too much. Even then it's not to stop you, just to recover the cost from big users.