March, 2014 – Caring for Your Faucets

Living Green

Caring for Your Faucets

By Jathy Garcia

Be Good to Your Faucets, and They’ll Be Good to You!

No one likes cleaning their bathroom or kitchen. Hey, it’s hard work!

But did you know that you can make your faucets last longer, and that all faucets, old and new, can help conserve huge amounts of water?

It’s true, and below you’ll find the proof.

A faucet is something you turn on and off. Turn it on, you get water. Turn it off, the flow of water stops.

Alas, if only it were that simple.

But faucets, bless their little hearts, have moving parts, and anything with moving parts is prone to need a repair…maybe later than sooner, but there’s no avoiding the inevitable.

So what can you do to extend the life of your faucets? Actually, quite a bit:

• Treat them gently…when turning water on and off, use normal hand pressure only;
• New houses often have dirt or metal in the water lines, which can damage faucet washers. So keep a supply of various size washers on hand…that way you can change them when your faucets start dripping;
• Clean your chrome fittings with a soft cloth moistened with vinegar, rubbing alcohol or glass cleaner;
• For lacquered brass faucets, use a mild detergent…for un-lacquered brass faucets, brass cream will do the job nicely;
• If the brass lacquer coating on your faucets gets scratched, you can prevent tarnishing by coating the scratch with clear nail polish;
• Lemon rind works wonders with tarnished brass or copper;
• Older steel faucets and fittings can be scrubbed clean with a mild scouring powder.

Eventually, as we said, preventive medicine alone won’t do the trick. In fact, a faucet that drips, on average, one drop of water per second can waste up to 100 gallons of water in just a week.

Before you think of buying a replacement faucet, the professionals at (company name) suggest you first try replacing the washer. But this time, leave those rubber washers on the hardware store shelf and purchase a supply of ceramic disc valves, instead. These offer a lifetime of drip-free performance, which saves you money on maintenance and water.

Of course, faucets do eventually call it quits, great washers or not. Or, you might simply want a different look in your kitchen or bath. In that case, we suggest you buy faucets with aerated flow restrictors which incorporate air into the water stream. The result is a bubbling flow that provides excellent rinsing action while reducing water usage.

If new fixtures happen to be on your current shopping list, we invite you to call Hi-Tech Plumbing for suggestions, installations or just good ole’ information.

For more information visit our website at www.hi-techplumbing.com or call our office at 561-790-6966.