Plumbing Vocabulary in English

They mean exactly the same thing — the fitting you turn on and off to let water out of a sink or basin. The difference is regional. Tap is the standard word in British English, so in the UK you turn on the tap and you have tap water. Faucet is the usual word in American English. If you are learning British English, always use tap; you will rarely hear faucet in everyday speech in Britain, although most people would understand it.

The mains is the main public water pipe that brings fresh water into your home from the network in the street, so anything fed from the mains gets fresh, pressurised water. The stopcock is the main valve that shuts off this water supply to the whole house. It is usually found under the kitchen sink or near where the pipe enters the building. It is very important to know where your stopcock is, because in an emergency — such as a burst pipe — turning it off stops all the water and prevents flooding.

Both control the flow of water, but they are used differently. A tap is the visible fitting at a sink or basin that you turn on to get water for washing or drinking. A valve is a more general device, often hidden inside the pipework, that opens, closes, or adjusts the flow of water within the system. A tap is one kind of valve, but plumbers also use separate valves to isolate radiators, washing machines, or sections of pipe so they can work on them without draining the whole house.

A cistern is the tank that holds water ready to be used, most commonly the tank behind or above a toilet. When you flush, the water stored in the cistern rushes down to clean the bowl, and the cistern then slowly refills, ready for the next flush. If a toilet keeps running or will not flush properly, the problem is often inside the cistern — usually a stuck float valve or a worn washer that is letting water leak through.

A trap is a curved, U-shaped section of pipe fitted underneath a sink, bath, or toilet. It is designed to hold a small amount of water at all times. This trapped water forms a seal that blocks unpleasant smells and harmful gases from the drains and sewer from rising up into your home. Without a trap, your bathroom or kitchen would smell of the sewer. Traps also catch small items, such as a dropped ring, before they disappear down the drain.

Both are seals that stop water leaking, but they differ in shape and use. A washer is a small, thin ring — often of rubber — placed inside a tap or a single joint to make a watertight seal; a worn washer is the most common cause of a dripping tap. A gasket is usually a flat seal fitted between two larger flat surfaces, such as the flanges where bigger parts meet, for example on a radiator valve or a pump. In short, washers seal small round joints, while gaskets seal larger flat connections.

They are opposite problems. A blockage is when something — such as hair, grease, or waste — stops water flowing through a pipe or drain, so the water backs up and will not go down. A leak is when water escapes from a pipe or fitting through a hole or crack, so water appears where it should not be. A blockage stops water moving; a leak lets water out. You clear a blockage with a plunger or drain rods, but you fix a leak by tightening or replacing the joint, washer, or pipe.

Soldering is a way of joining copper pipes together permanently. The plumber fits the pipe into a connecting fitting, heats the metal with a blowtorch, and then applies solder — a soft metal alloy that melts and flows into the gap. When the solder cools, it hardens and forms a strong, watertight joint. Soldering is common in older and traditional plumbing, although many plumbers now use push-fit or compression fittings instead, which do not need heat. A poorly soldered joint can leak, so it must be done carefully.

An overflow is a safety feature — a small extra hole or pipe near the top of a basin, bath, or cistern. If the water rises too high, it escapes through the overflow and drains away safely instead of spilling onto the floor. You can see the overflow hole near the top of most bathroom basins. The word overflow is also a verb: if a sink is blocked and you leave the tap running, the water will overflow, meaning it spills over the edge.

The most effective method is to link each word to a real object or problem in your own home. Walk around your kitchen and bathroom and name what you see — the tap, the drain, the trap under the sink, the cistern behind the toilet. Imagine describing a problem to a plumber, such as a leak or a blockage, using the correct words. Then use Flash Cards on LexFizz to drill the 20 words on this page, and try the Quiz to test yourself. Practising the words in realistic situations helps you remember them far longer.