Now that we are going into Water Rationing, it’s time to investigate Water Saving Faucets. Since mine are about 20 years old and corroded, it time to replace. What is a good faucet and what do you look for? What is important in your faucet?
What you save:
- Old Showerhead: 15-35 Gallons per 5 minute
- Water Savings Showerhead: 5-12.5 Gallons of Water per 5 minutes
Advantages:
- Save you money
- Saves Water
- Saves Environment
- Saves water heating costs
- Saves Sewage Costs
- Increase productivity of water useage
Top 10 Things to Consider When Buying Faucets
- Faucet Design /Style: What is going match your decor. What are the current trends?
- Handles and Spout: Do you have a separate hot and cold handle or a single handle? The spout has to allow you space for dishes and cleaning.
- Where is the Faucet going? Kitchen, Bathroom, Laundry,
- Finish: Color
- Ease of Cleaning:
- Flow Control/Water Conservation
- How many holes in the sink? If you are just replacing your current faucet, you need to buy one that matches the holes. If buying a new sink, make sure it matches the holes.
- Cost: of course
- Type of Faucet you want, which will depend on where it’s going.
- Long term investment, are you renting? sellling or going to be living there.
Types of Faucets:
- Electronic and Hands Free: Higher priced, less water consumers, enchance personal hygiene
- Meter Valve: delivers .25 gal of water and then automatically shuts off.
- Foot Pedal: allows one to activate a faucet at a set temperture by foot controls.
- Low faucet aerators
- Infrared Sensors: automatcially activate the water flow when hands are removed.
- Aerator: Simple and inexpensive retrofit for a conventional faucet, by replacing the screw- in top of the faucet with an aerator.
Resources:
- EPA:
- Showerhead Type: Video form HGTV
- Conserv-A Store: Located in Central Florida, they offer eco friendly products and services .
- Metaefficient has some great reviews on Faucet Aerators.
- Quik Blog on Saving Water from San Ramon
- Indoor Water Conservation Kit
The Conclusion:
I have no conclusion, The more i read, the more confused I get. The days of $30.00 faucets are over.
I have a strong feeling that the foot pedal in the kitchen will be hot ticket. Too many times the hands are full and you waste water because you can’t shut it off. Plus it might be easier to clean, no more food gunk on the faucet. (At least in the kitchen) But today am going to investigate faucets, as there is a Faucet Factory within walking Distance.
Make sure that the faucet you are buying can easily change out the aerator it comes with for a low flow faucet aerator. If so then you should look to replace the standard aerator with one that has a flow rate of 2.2 gallons per minute wich is the standard low flow rate for a kitchen faucet. You can find these at any hardware store.
Thanks Greg for the information. I went to Faucet Factory yesterday and they told me most of the Faucets were about the same!