Save Water with A Faucet Aeratorby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 29 Mar 2007 04:36 AM
A faucet aerator is a small device that attaches to individual faucets throughout your house. You can put a faucet aerator on one faucet or on all of your faucets. It all depends on your needs, although obviously, you will get the most savings if you install the most faucet aerators. The way a faucet aerator works is by reducing the water flow that comes out of the faucet by essentially mixing the water with air. You won't notice the difference in the amount of water when you use it. In fact, the water pressure may even feel stronger after the aerator is installed. Meanwhile, the aerator is allowing you to save on your water usage by about half! If you do the math, you can probably save about 280 gallons of water a month. Plus, when you use less water, you use less oil or gas to heat that water. This gives you even more savings. There are different types of faucet aerators, and they are all pretty inexpensive. We purchased ours for about $1.70 each. You may already have faucet aerators installed, but you want to make sure that they are the most efficient. All faucet aerators come with the flow rate imprinted on its side. You want faucet aerators with 2.75 gpm. The gmp stands for gallons per minute. For most faucets, aerators can be installed by simply screwing them on the end of the faucet by hand. I think aerators are wonderful for all of the faucets in your home, but one of the best places for this little device is on the kitchen sink. (Showers can use up a lot of water, too, but they use something called a low-flow shower head, aerating or non aerating, and I will cover that topic in a future blog.) I don't know how it is in your house, but my kitchen sink faucet always seems to be on, whether we are washing dishes or washing hands or just washing the countertops and the rest of the kitchen. So, I would suggest that you start with that faucet. Once you see how easy that first faucet aerator is to install, you'll soon want to add more. Related Articles: Are Your Daily Habits Wasting Energy? Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments  Linda Hansen (1796) 02 Apr 2007 06:52 AMMary Ann, we just installed one on the kitchen and bathroom sink faucets. The boys got to install them and feel like they are doing something to save water. Carrie74 (5) 30 Apr 2008 01:55 PMThe perfect compliment to yout faucet aerators is the Hot Water Lobster Instant Hot Water Valve! It will get hot water to your shower faster, save water, and increase your hot water capacity up to 10%. Just install this thermostatically adjustable recirculation valve under the sink farthest form your water heater and you will have instant hot water throughout your home. you will save the water that is normally wasted down the drain while waiting for hot water! Hot Water Lobster uses no electricity and is pump free, so it creates no noise. It's only $179.95, has a 10-year warranty, and is very easy to install. It only took me 10 minutes. I have had it for 3 years now and am very impressed. I highly recommend this system. Check it out at: www.hotwaterlobster.com Community Tags faucet aerator, frugal, how to, saving water Discuss this article
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Here is another little secret to saving water. Use a faucet aerator, and you will cut down on your water usage without noticing any changes in water pressure.
