Changing the hot and cold water on a single-lever mixer tap

 With conventional taps, the knob to the right of the spout controls the cold water and the knob to the left controls the hot water. With a single-lever mixer, the hot and cold water are controlled with the same handle. Sliding the handle to the right controls the cold water, and sliding it to the left controls the hot water. Both types of taps, however, are fed by two supply pipes located under the washbasin. Switching from hot to cold water is a simple task that requires only basic plumbing skills. You can also adjust the mix of hot and cold water that the tap dispenses.

Switching water pipes

These are chrome-coloured knobs on the back wall under the sink with a thin plastic or metal tube running up to the tap.

Turn each knob anticlockwise to turn off the water supply. Turn on the tap to make sure that the water supply is turned off before removing the supply lines.

Loosen the supply pipes by turning the nut securing the supply pipe to the shut-off valve anticlockwise with a spanner.

Attach the supply line that was on the left (hot) shut-off valve to the right shut-off valve and turn it clockwise to tighten. Attach the remaining supply line to the remaining shut-off valve and tighten it.

Turn on both shut-off valves and look for leaks. Close the leaking valve, remove the nut and tighten it again to prevent leakage.

Turn the handle of the single-lever mixer to the right. You should feel hot water. Push the handle to the left to get cold water.

Adjusting the water mixture

Remove the single handle. Depending on the tap, either prise off (with a flat screwdriver) the small plastic cover that covers the retaining screw or remove the retaining screw from the bottom of the handle.

Adjust the water mixture. Some taps have two small adjustment screws below the handle. The left screw adjusts the hot water, the right the cold water. To increase the water temperature, turn either the hot water screw anticlockwise or the cold water screw clockwise. To decrease the water temperature, turn either the hot water screw clockwise or the cold water screw anticlockwise. Other taps have either small plastic knobs that you turn by hand or with pliers to adjust the hot-cold mixture, or a temperature adjustment ring that you turn clockwise to adjust the water temperature.

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