I still remember the day when my bath shower started continuously leaking the water and turning the handle won’t do anything. I was a new home owner and kinda freaked out. The thing which annoyed me the most was that I couldn’t see water getting wasted. Also closing the water supply until some contractor came to fix it seemed daunting as sometimes it may take a few days for a contractor to show up.

However over the years, I have learned a few tricks to deal with a leaking shower head. This strategy doesn’t waste water and also doesn’t require me to turn off the water supply.

To begin with every time you have a leaking showerhead, chances are that the cartridge sitting inside the shower handle needs to be replaced.

But what if you don’t know how to open and replace the cartridge. Also, you don’t want to waste any water for hours or maybe days.

So here is what you can do to deal with a leaking showerhead as a temporary solution:

1. Turn off the main water supply.
2. Take off the showerhead.
3. Measure the diameter of the pipe.
4. Also note the brand of the shower handle which is not working. In my case, it was Moen as shown in the picture below:

5. Head to Home Depot with your removed showerhead to purchase these things: water pipe cap or ball valve, tefton tape, wrench and a shower cartridge (optional).
6. First get the water pipe cap which you will need to close the pipe where the showerhead is attached. I once made the mistake of getting a gas pipe cap instead of a water pipe cap so make sure you are getting the right one. Also if you are not sure about the diameter of the cap then just grab a small pipe at Home Depot and test if it fits into your showerhead which you must have brought with you. And then test if the cap also manages to close the same sample pipe.
7. Alternatively you can get a ball valve instead of a water pipe cap. The advantage is that with the ball valve, you can still use the showerhead by attaching it to the valve’s head. And once done with the bath, you can turn off the knob to stop the water. Basically the knob on the ball valve acts as a temporary shower handle.
8. You will also need a wrench and the tefton tape to create a secure seal while putting the pipe cap or the ball valve.
9. Now at this point you may also decide to also shop the possible cartridges for your brand of shower handle. And I would highly recommend purchasing the cartridges too as contractors usually add a heavy markup to get the parts for you. Now if you are not sure which specific cartridge would go then just buy all the cartridge models matching your shower handle brand and then just return the unused ones after the fix. For my Moen shower handle, Moen Posi-Temp 1222 cartridge worked:

10. Refer to YouTube to find countless videos on how to use tefton tape and wrench to close the water pipe using either the water pipe cap or the ball valve. Note: If your bathtub also has a spout (tap) then just pull the diverter to divert the flow of water towards the showerhead.

You are all set. You can now turn on the water supply while you wait for your contractor to arrive without wasting any more water.