mixing it up

as i've mentioned before, sink faucets can unload gallons of water per minute, especially when you have little ones who opt to splash around, rather than actually wash their hands, as you requested 20 minutes earlier. simply installing aerators, which mix air with the water as it leaves the spout, reduce both the flow rate and splashing (child-induced splashing not included, however), while increasing wetting efficiency.

faucet aerators offer flow rates from 0.5 to 2.75 gallons per minute (gpm). even a 2.75 gpm aerator can reduce faucet flow by 5.5 percent or more. of course, you still want some water pressure, right?so a flow rate of 1 gpm is probably the lowest acceptable flow rate for bathroom sink use, and a flow rate of 2.5 gpm will work for the kitchen. also, with a price tag of $3 to $10 each and potential savings of 100 gallons of water per year, per faucet, these make great economic sense.