Dripping of a highly viscous and conductive aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol under the influence of a DC electric field is analysed. Experimental results show that as the electric field is increased the droplet size is reduced and the formation frequency is increased. Variations in the flow rate affect the frequency but not the droplet diameter. A simple quasi-static force balance can predict the variation of the droplet diameter with the electric field strength. This approach becomes inaccurate at very high electric fields due to inadequacies of the field model in describing the prevailing electric field. A more accurate model is necessary but this can only be addressed by numerical analysis of the electric field. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.