Faucet Repair in Lorton, VA

Lorton water and homes

Fairfax Water's Griffith plant, which treats Occoquan Reservoir water with ozone and granular activated carbon, sits near Lorton, and Fairfax Water also supplies Potomac River water from its Corbalis plant. Samples from the Occoquan plant have run about 77 to 147 mg/L of hardness, moderately hard. Only about 17 percent of homes in ZIP 22079 were built before 1980, so many faucets here are builder models from the 1990s and 2000s that are now due for new cartridges. Fairfax Water owns the service line up to and including the meter, and the homeowner owns everything after it, so a faucet problem is always a job for your own plumber rather than the utility.

Steps to take right now

1. Shut the stops under the sink. If one will not close, close the main shutoff.
2. Open the faucet to drain the line and ease the pressure.
3. Check the supply hoses and the base of the faucet for drips.
4. Look for a brand name on the faucet body or handle.
5. Dry the cabinet and leave the doors open so it does not swell.

Signs and what they usually mean

What affects the cost

A cartridge or O-ring change on a common brand is a modest job. Costs go up if the faucet must be replaced, if supply hoses and stops are swapped at the same time, or if scale has locked parts together. Kitchen faucets with pull-down sprayers or filter taps take longer. Fairfax Water uses chloramines most of the year and free chlorine from about April through June, so a filter faucet should be rated for chloramine. Fairfax County Land Development Services issues permits for new or moved fixtures; a direct faucet swap in the same spot is generally exempt. Homes on Mason Neck or other edges with different water arrangements should check their bill for the provider.