Q: After recently replacing my water faucets, I’ve noticed that the flow of the water is considerably less than it was with my old faucets. Is there some kind of federal mandate requiring new water faucets to reduce flow, similar to the ones on water tanks of commodes?
Chantilly, Va.
A: There are federal standards for low-flow faucets, plus even tougher standards in some states, which is leading manufacturers to make more and more faucets that are water-efficient enough to be sold everywhere.
If you replaced faucets from before 1994, when the federal standards took effect, you might have noticed a significant difference. But low-flow faucets haven’t given rise to as many consumer complaints as there have been about low-flow toilets, some of which require repeated flushing to get the job done. For washing your hands or rinsing a plate, a lower flow might not even be noticeable. But it will take longer to fill a pot. And if you have a faucet far from your water heater, it may seem as if it takes forever to get hot water at the tap.
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Before federal water-efficiency standards went into effect, some kitchen faucets put out seven gallons per minute (gpm) when completely open. That wasted a lot of water — and energy, because water used at a sink is often hot. The federal standards set the maximum flow at 2.2 gpm. States were allowed to set tighter restrictions, and some did.
California and Colorado took the lead with standards that took effect in 2016. California set the maximum flow for kitchen faucets at 1.8 gpm, but designs could temporarily override that limit up to 2.2 gpm for tasks such as filling pots, when a higher flow would save time but not waste water. California set 1.2 gpm as the maximum flow for bathroom faucets; Colorado specified WaterSense’s slightly higher limit, 1.5 gpm.
Since then, some other states have followed with rules that are gradually taking effect. According to appliance-standards.org, higher standards took effect in Vermont in 2020 and in Hawaii and Washington state this year. Higher standards have been adopted but have not yet taken effect in New York, D.C., Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island and Maine. Although Virginia isn’t on the list, you may have purchased faucets that meet these higher standards, because manufacturers favor products that can be sold everywhere.
The trick is to find water-thrifty products that work. Luckily, there is a shortcut for doing this: Look for products that have the WaterSense label. The Environmental Protection Agency launched this program, which involves independent testing for both performance and water efficiency, after poorly designed toilets gave rise to consumer scorn. After all, there is no water savings if people need to flush a low-flow toilet repeatedly to do what an older toilet accomplished in a single flush.
Stephanie Tanner, lead engineer for the WaterSense program, said in a phone interview that industry partners also wanted a program that would identify high-performing products that consumers were less likely to return. At epa.gov/watersense, you can search for models that have been tested and that have met the program’s standards. Or, when shopping, you can look for the blue-and-green WaterSense label on packaging.
The program does not rate kitchen faucets but it does rate bathroom faucets. This program began with a study to learn which features separate the best performers from the laggards. Tanner said the program found that some bathroom faucets perform well only within the range of water pressures that are most common, 45 to 80 pounds per square inch (psi). If water pressure is low, these faucets just dribble. They may meet government standards, which pertain to the maximum flow rate, but not consumer needs, which are for a faucet to deliver the maximum allowable flow, or close to it, when the tap is fully open. As a result, WaterSense’s protocol involves tests at 60 psi to make sure they don’t exceed 1.5 gpm, and it also tests at 20 psi to ensure a minimum flow rate of 0.8 gpm, which Tanner said is a usable flow for what people do at a bathroom sink.
If your new faucets deliver only dribbles, consider swapping them out for ones with a WaterSense label, especially in the bathroom or bathrooms you use most often.
If your bathroom is far from your water heater, there is a way to avoid having to watch as water goes down the drain while you wait for hot water to arrive. Install a hot water recirculation pump, which creates a loop, so water that has cooled in the pipe between the water heater and the faucet or a showerhead goes back to the water heater rather than flowing down the drain. This water flows at a fast rate, so it not only cuts down on wasted water, but it also dramatically shortens the time you need to wait for hot water to arrive at the tap. The Watts hot water recirculating system with a built-in timer is $199 at Home Depot. You would need one of these (or a similar product), and perhaps a few accessory parts, such as stainless steel supply lines, for each faucet or showerhead you want to adjust.
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