WHAT IS A TAP AERATOR?

Have you ever heard of this special solution? After all, who takes interest in household taps? Actually, it’s really worth checking whether there is a small ring with a net insert at the tip of your faucet head – it’s the aerator! It helps you save water.

 

There are two kinds of aerator, a female aerator that has the threads on the inside of the aerator, and a male aerator with the threads on the outside of the aerator. If your faucet is not equipped with an aerator, you should add it yourself. How does this small ring work? When an aerator is added to the faucet, a region of high pressure is created behind the aerator against the low pressure outside the faucet. Air is drawn into the water stream, aerating the stream and reducing the water flow through the faucet. Aerated water has a better pressure and so the water flow is reduced by 60%. Another advantage of the aerator is that it shapes the water stream coming out of the faucet spout.

 

A few tips for those who want to install a tap aerator:

• do not go for the cheapest metal models – they are made of lower-quality material and are more prone to corrosion;
• it is easier to clean plastic or silicone models; remember to clean them regularly, especially if you have hard water in the house.

 

Aerator is a good solution, but …. NOT in case of bath mixer taps. When water is mixed with air, the bathtub will fill up slowly, so the water will cool down. By doing so we are wasting the energy needed to heat the water.