Dripping Teapot Problems or
Why does the Teapot Drip

A Story about a dripping Teapot with a Conclusion

You may have arrived on this page because you have a "Dripping Teapot", or putting it another way, a "Teapot that Drips from the Spout". Transport Cafes and any other establishment that makes Tea can have this problem, including you in your own home.

To help appreciate the problem of the Dripping Teapot Spout here is a true story, which started in The wonderful Arabian Country of Saudi Arabia in the late 1980’s or 1990, this also involves Harrods of London which I will explain.

"Once upon a Time", (this is where you smile) an Engineering company who had offices in different parts of the Middle East had a serious problem. All the staff in the office at Riyadh in Saudi Arabia liked their cup of tea, and the engineers who were based there often had refreshment from the office tea facility. The heads of the company also partook of the facility with the engineers when they were there, but, problems, "The Tea Pot Dripped from the Spout".
One of the heads who was also an engineer, was flying out of Saudi for London on the day that this matter came to a head, so they made a decision to deal with the matter once and for all, and that it should be done in a correct and logical manner, all in keeping with good engineering practice. The co-head and engineer flying to London, we will call him "Len", was commissioned to go to Harrods and purchase one of their best Teapots, plus accompanying cups and saucers etc. so that this dripping teapot problem could be finished with forever.

On arrival in London Len completed his business and then proceeded to Harrods of Knightsbridge, London, to purchase the best Teapot in the world, plus all the bits that go with such a salubrious purchase. Having made his expensive purchase the goods were wrapped and boxed for export to Saudi Arabia, Riyadh to be precise, a taxi was ordered and Len departed for Heathrow Airport London with all his charges.

On arrival In Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, he was taxied to the company offices where he delivered this finest porcelain Teapot plus accessories. The office staff opened the box and after the usual washing ceremony, Tea was made.

Whilst this was being done Len was in with his partner discussing business, when the phone rang, a matter urgent was brought to the bosses attention, This fine teapot bought and brought from Harrods of Knightsbridge, London, had a "Dripping Teapot Spout".

The technical engineers departed from their office and arrived at the Tea making facility to ponder and observe first hand the incredible "Dripping Teapot", Yes it was true, the Teapot did drip!, more pondering took place and then,,,, it was decided to place the responsibility back with Harrods of Knightsbridge, London, after all, it was their Teapot that was Dripping, and it had cost plenty of hard earned cash and a delivery service across part of the globe.
Len was commissioned to phone Harrods and complain at once, which he did.
On reaching the switch board of Harrods and explaining the problem he was put through (connected) to the manager in charge of that department, Len explained the problem, and coupled it with the fact that he had personally purchased the Teapot and its accessories at great cost to solve the sole problem of a dripping Teapot.

The Harrods departmental manager listened to Len and then told him to continue using the teapot for that week, and if at the end of the week it still dripped they would fly out to him by special courier a new Teapot, fully tested and conditioned.
Len listened to the manager and asked him what point there was in using it for a week, as the problem was not likely to disappear, the manager asked Len to Humour him and not wash the inside of the Teapot, (for our American Cousins we could insert, "Indulge" instead of humour here as they don’t always understand English English).

A week later the Teapot stopped dripping, never again to cause frustration to the staff of an engineering company based in Saudi Arabia.

But you say, how does that help me and "My" dripping Teapot,, Ok folks, well it goes like this,,,,,,, the tannin in the tea stains the surface of the inside of the teapot, this in effect in simple terms makes the surface smoother, all the way to the end of the spout which is where the problem is. As the Tea passes through the spout and out of the end it has surface resistance or drag, as you could call it, this makes the Tea or other liquid slow down and some of it drips off the end due to its flow being poor over the point where it leaves the spout. As the Tannin or stain in the tea covers the spout surface the drag is reduced, or, it flows faster or easier with less surface resistance, when a point is reached where the drag has reduced enough the "Dripping Stops".

Now there is some relationship between the speed of the tea as it leaves the spout and the drag that will cause it to drip, so,,,, it is possible to increase the speed of the tea out of a Stainless steel or metal teapot by narrowing the point where it leaves the spout, thus increasing the speed, and thereby changing the relationship between the drag and the quantity of tea passing through the spout at the end point. This is one way to design a teapot spout, another is to have such a smooth surface that it would require a very slow speed to cause the teapot spout to drip. So dear reader, if you ponder your own situation, I am sure that you can determine if your own dripping teapot spout is curable. Remember don’t wash the inside of the teapot unless for hygiene reasons it is required, as in many commercial establishments. If you do wash it for such reasons do so with care and consideration for the velocity factor and surface adhesion of the spout. (smile).

There is a patent on a none dripping teapot, which basically has a grove underneath the spout lip end, applying the same principle as the grove underneath your outside window sill, simply put, water will not flow upwards so it has to drop off, however, I seriously maintain that if designed correctly a teapot will not drip, but, assuming a tannin coating on the inside of a spout can be considered part of the design expectancy, I have chosen my words carefully here.

It is also true that one Safeway supermarket Tearoom or Cafe in the UK, whatever you wish to call them, had dripping stainless steel Teapots. A certain engineer who had been in Saudi Arabia, modified the spouts on all the Teapots (increased the end speed of the Tea from the spout by a narrowing) so that they did not drip, this service was done free of charge, due to a teeth gnashing syndrome called, "Secondary Frustration".

Click back button to return to front page,, or,,,
if you arrived from a search engine click the link below.

Back to Main index page Transport Cafes Home Page