The device that reduces flow and improves pressure
This seemingly magical device? A faucet aerator. “It’s a tiny but powerful device that screws onto the tip of a kitchen faucet,” Luke Wooffindin, a licensed plumber and HVAC expert at Safeguard Plumbing, told Homes & Gardens.
The aerator’s primary purpose “is to control water from the faucet by mixing it with air,” he said. While it “produces a soft, steady flow that feels forceful,” it actually uses a lot less water. It also controls the direction of the water, resulting in less splashing and more effective cleaning.
“It doesn’t exactly increase the pressure from your plumbing system, but it creates the sensation of strong pressure. It does this by narrowing and shaping the water stream,” David Lewis, owner of Mission AC and Plumbing, told Homes & Gardens.
Prices vary for the aerator, but hardware stores like Lowe’s and Ace Hardware as well as online retailers like Amazon sell aerators ranging from less than $5 to around $10. Some sell sets of four stainless steel aerators for less than $10. It’s a simple DIY project to install this tiny attachment, but make sure you buy the right size and type.
Aerators work by forcing the faucet water through a flow restrictor and a metal or plastic mesh screen. The screen breaks the water stream into smaller streams while small holes in the side of the aerator draw in air that mixes with the water.
If your faucet already has an aerator, as most modern ones do, replacing it for one with a lower flow rate can make all the difference.
“The faucet aerators can help conserve 30% to 50% of the water coming out of the faucet, or even more, depending on the type of aerator installed,” said Wooffindin.
He added, “For example, installing a 1.0 GPM (gallons-per-minute) aerator instead of the standard 2.2 GPM aerator would mean saving well over a gallon for every minute the faucet is left running.”
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Learn MoreSaving with small changes
Faucets account for 20% of indoor household water usage, so conserving 50% of water you would normally use would translate to reasonable savings. It may not seem like much, but water bills have risen dramatically in recent years and may keep rising — so these savings could start to add up.
The average American uses more than 82 gallons of water per day at home and spends more than $1,000 per year on water, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The agency says they can save more than $380 annually from retrofitting with WaterSense-labeled fixtures and ENERGY STAR certified appliances.
In addition to improving your water fixtures, you can also conserve water by fixing leaky pipes and changing behaviors such as taking shorter showers, refraining from running the water when brushing your teeth and only washing full loads of laundry.
Reducing your home water use will not only help you save money, but can contribute to saving the planet. While water scarcity is a growing global issue, responsible household water use play a small part in tackling this issue — starting with a tiny $5 faucet aerator.
Why water bills have risen
“In some cities, minimum wage workers must work over 20 hours per month just to cover their water bills, exceeding EPA affordability thresholds,” according to Bluefield Research, a water sector research firm.
Their analysis found that household water and sewer bills rose 4.6% from 2023 to 2024 and surged 24% in the five years to 2024.
Bluefield attributes the rising costs to “inflation, aging infrastructure and slow federal funding distribution.” In many places, water infrastructure is 50 to 100 years old. Bluefield analyst Eric Bindler told AARP federal government funding fell from about a third of the cost of providing municipal water in the 1970s to about 4% by 2010.
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