Georgia Water Planning District Takes Measures to Increase Downstream to Alabama and Florida

For many years now, Georgia has been in a battle with Alabama and Florida over who has the right to use the water reservoir of Lake Lanier as a main water supply.   In 2009, Judge Paul Magnuson ruled that Atlanta didn't have the right to keep Lake Lanier water from neighboring states and gave Georgia until July of 2012 to settle the dispute with Alabama and Florida over where the water should flow south of the lake.

Jim Scarbrough, a delegate on the Gwinnett County's water authority said "We're trying to show our neighbors to the south, namely Florida and Alabama, as well as the judge that we're doing a pretty good job with water conservation."  The Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, charged with creating the new conservation measures claims it will reduce consumption by 130 million gallons a day by the year 2035.  The new measures will conserve water as well as increase downstream flow to south Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.

One of the biggest changes taking place to put this plan into action is the installation of new water meters with "point-of-use" leak detection.  These will allow residents to get more involved with their water consumption by being able to monitor their own water use, almost down to the drop.  Kathy Nguyen, Cobb County water efficiency manager, said the devices will allow customers "to set their own goals for what their use should be" and alert the homeowners to leaks that occur.

Water Conservation Tightens in California

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay is a man made estuary used to supply the people of the north, their crops, and wildlife.  Currently, the Bay Delta is used for a filtration point for the water for the people in Southern California, but in recent events their have been proposals to circumvent parts of the water flow to channel it south.

When everything is Hunky Dorry, the water supply is working fine, but when their is a disruption such as an earth quake, the water supply can become quickly contaminated.  This is the reason for the discussion to take some of the water from the north and divert it south.

Several interesting statistics were brought up in light of talk to divert some of the northern's water to the south.  Tom Philip, an economic strategist for the Metropolitan Water District, claimed that families in the Sacramento area averaged 248 gallons per day while Philp's claimed communities in Southern California, like Irvine, only used 100 gallons a day.  He also brought up a point that in Melbourne, Australia rains as water conservation king with only 40 gallons per day.  We think we could all learn a lesson about water conservation from them.

Vessel Sinks | Pros and Cons

The Vessel Sink Faucet is somewhat of a new trend in modern faucets.  It mostly means, a free standing sink with a faucet, which also most of the time also looks pretty fancy.  These sinks and faucets are generally mounted directly to the furniture on which they sit.  It has become increasingly popular for the the sink and faucet to mounted completely separate of each other.

There are some pretty good things about vessel sinks.  For one they are generally taller than normal sinks.  Just in case you have some extra large hands that need washing.  They are also much easier to change out since they are not stuck in place like normal faucets and don't require difficult cut-outs in the counter top.

On the other hand, vessel sinks are on top of the counter tops so they don't normally go well with traditional faucets and they do take up a lot of space on the counter top. They are also prone to chipping.

We are torn on one subject to whether it is a good or bad thing.  The huge selection you can find..... gees....  You can get them in all kinds of cool designs made out of copper, chrome, nickel, bronze, and even bamboo.  One of our favorites would have to be the waterfall faucet......

Touch Screen Kitchen Faucet

Ok, you have to admit this one is pretty cool..  Designed by an Italian company, Fima Carlo Frattini. This faucet is a definite for a fine, tech-enabled kitchen. The Nomos Faucet comes with a full feature touch screen that comes with all the tech goodies you could ask for.  Digital control over water quantity, pressure, and temperature.  It will even notify you when there are leaks coming from the faucet.  I don't think a kitchen faucet gets any smarter than this.... unless it starts washing your dishes for you!!

PepsiCo Rolling Out Web-based Software To Aid In Water Conservation

PepsiCo this week announced that they would be rolling out a new web-based software to help their farmers to save water and reduce their green house gas footprint.  It's called "I-Crop."  Developed along side with Cambridge University, it is a cloud-computing environment that PepsiCo is testing on 22 U.K farms.  PepsiCo has said they hope to reduce water usage and emission by up to 50% within 5 years.  Other goals the company has made include their addition of some low-carbon fertilizers and also replace the potato stock with some different varieties of stock to improve the farmer's yields and reduce wasted stock by the year 2015.

PepsiCo is one of the largest buyers of Britsh grown potatoes, oats, and apples.  Richard Evans, president of PepsiCo U.K said "Farming is in the DNA of our business.  We rely on fresh produce every day.  Finding ways to produce more food with less environmental impact is essential to our future.

See if your saving water by taking this month's poll about shaving in the sink at TheKitchenFaucet.com

WaterSense Tax Holiday in Virgina

Virgina is having a tax holiday October 8th through the 11th for Energy Star and WaterSense labeled appliances. It's a great long Columbus day weekend for energy-efficent appliances, which are exempt from the normal 5% sales tax that combine the federal and state sales taxes of the state of virgina.  Very expensive products are not included in this tax exemption though.  Only products that are below $2,500 which are purchased for home use only will receive the tax benefit.  

Some examples of WaterSense products are toilets, bathroom & kitchen faucets, and faucet accessories.  If your not down for buying a brand new home applicance right now, don't fret.  Pre-owned items also qualify for the tax break.  Of course, who wants to save a few bucks on a rented kitchen faucet?  You can check out virgina.gov for some FAQ on the tax holiday.

Companies look to Water Conservation as a Way to Cut Costs

In tough economic times, many companies are looking to water conservation as a way to lower costs.  When we talk about ways to conserve water, mostly we are talking to the consumers( or residents).  It is true that as a whole, individual people consume the most water.  When it comes to putting water conservation techniques into practice and seeing results fast, industry is at the top.  A business that pays people to get things done with a governing body at the top to oversee that water saving practices are followed through, can show some pretty good results on the water conservation side.  A couple of local businesses in St. Cloud, MN have gotten pretty good at saving water.

A company called Electrolux Home Products has been able to almost cut their water usage in half down 28 million gallons from 62 million in 2007.  Tony Evans, a spokes person for the company says they were able to lower water consumption by "eliminating  a painting system that used a lot of water and using prepainted steel instead and water used for rinsing equipment is captured and reused."

CentraCare, one of the towns local hospitals, has been able to cut their water usage by 60 percent.  They have incorporated a larger sterilization department that is able to reuse water by filtering and heating to an extremely high temperature.  They have also switched to low-flow faucets and some water saving washing machines.  With a water bill of over $304K last year, they have every reason to want to save some water.

Dual Flush Technology to Save Water

Who would have thought that the toilet uses the most water in your home?  Well duh, I guess.  We really just don't think about it to often though.  Well now that I think about it, we have put out an article in the past on how to save water in the home and there is one about putting a brick in or water bottle full of water in container to displace some water that isn't really necessary(for most people) to get your waste outa there.  Well, anyway, the EPA estimates that toilets accounts for 30% of water used in U.S. residential homes, which they say is more than 2 trillion gallons.

There is a new system called the HydroRight drop-in dual flush kit which will convert a toilet into a two button system.  One button is a quick flush which is good if you only have liquid or paper to dispose of and the other button for regular flushes.  A study conducted by Veritec Consulting showed that the installation of the HydroRight reduced the water use inside the home by 30%.  Co-Founder of Veritec, Bill Gauley said "the installation of Hydrolight can be expected to save even more water if retrofitting toilets that flush with 3.5 gallons or more."

A Note about Oil Rubbed Bronze

There are many different types of finishes available these days for the many types of faucets.  One that has stuck out recently is the oil rubbed bronze finish.  Bronze is made when mixing copper with tin and phosphorus.  When you think of bronze, most people think of antiques.

Besides looking very vintage, the color and finish will not get worse with age.  With an already older look, it will continue to have the same appeal for years to come.  Also oil-rubbed bronze finish is more or less immune to bacteria because of the properties of copper, which is used to make bronze.  An oil rubbed bronze faucet can always add a nice vintage look to your kitchen or bathroom

Is there Lead still coming out of our Faucets?

Even though the government regulates and monitors how much contaminates are allowed into the water supply, do the water treatment plants really get everything out of the water?  Recent health studies have shown that even very low levels of lead in the water can still be dangerous.  Problems such as kidney disease, reduced brain function, and hypertension.  In 1986, the government enacted a federal law to reduce the amount of drinking water in our plumbing.  Even so many faucets still sold today still contain up to a quarter pound of lead in them and still be deemed "lead-free"  .Under this federal law, faucets are allowed to have up to 4 percent of lead when they are manufactured.  With the average kitchen faucet weighing around 7 pounds,  that leaves enough lead in the faucets to still do some harm.

California as we all know, is always on the forefront when it comes to the environment.  Congresswomen Anna Eshoo has introduced a federal bill to try and eliminate lead from our plumbing for drinking water.  The bill, named H.R 5289.  This bill has already been approved by Governer Schwarzenegger for the state of California to have the strictest lead standard of any state.  The bill also adds protection to make sure the faucet companies actually comply with the strict standards.  To help ensure that the H.R. 5289 bill stays strong, contact your local congressman and tell them you want H.R 5289.

Turn your Faucet into a Drinking Fountain

Have you ever wanted a drink of water from your faucet, but didn't want to waste a glass doing so.  A new product called "Tapi" by Dreamform has come out with a way to do this.

Simply slide the Tapi on to almost any kitchen faucet, to turn it into a full fledged drinking fountain.  You'll never have to waste grabbing a glass from the cabinet just for one glass of water, and then either having to take the time to clean it or putting it in the dishwasher.  You don't have to take it off the faucet even to use the regular

faucet.

 You simply squeeze the Tapi to transform it into the water fountain.   In the bathroom, the Tapi is good for cleaning out the sink after shaving or cleaning your mouth off after brushing your teeth.  Coming out this month, the Tapi is a very inexpensive addition, only $6.30, and is offered in almost every color in the spectrum.

WaterPik's New Online Community

WaterPik, Inc, one of the leading makers of really awesome shower heads, launched their online community.  It's a place where people can get together to discuss oral hi-gene and get answers from the companies experts.  You can take polls and see how others fair in taking care of them selves.  Today their poll is entitled simply "Do you Floss?  Only 7 people have taken the poll so far, but we will check it in a couple of days to see if more people have answered the question.

People can also engage in conversations with dental and medical professionals.  WaterPiks president and CEO, Richard Bisson, says "Through this community, we are providing our consumers with easy access to knowledgeable experts who can assist them with their questions and help get the most out of their product experience."

Visit the WaterPik online community on their web site today and see what is happening in the world of personal health care.

New Low Pressure Shower Heads by Kohler

Kohler recently unveiled their new line of custom shower heads which are custom designed to be tailored specifically to regions with low water pressure such as India.  Vikas Gupta, president of KOHLER India says "It is our endeavor to offer only unique and advanced products to the consumers.  We are confident that this new range will provide a relaxing and refreshing showering experience to consumers, regardless of water pressure."

The new lines of Kohler shower heads are Magna and Everclear which work in low and high pressure conditions. The shower heads feature anti-limescale nozzles for easy cleaning and a great chrome finish.  The Magna Power multi-function features three spray modes including normal, champagne, and massage. The Magna has a flow rate of 9.4 liters per minute at only 0.3 bar pressure.  It's price is set at around $90 US.  The Everclear, shown in the picture here, single function is a bit more of a simple design and is less expensive as well, only about $70 US.  It offers self-cleaning nozzles that prevent calcification.  It has a flow rate of 10.4 liters per minute at 0.3 bar pressure as well.

Track Your Water Usage

Here at the TheKitchenFaucet.com, we have always been strong advocates of water conservation.  The Koolhaus Faucet, designed by Daniel Dobrogorsky, is a new designer bathroom or lavatory faucet which tracks how much water runs through it.  Currently there is not really any way to monitor water usage except for a flow meter on the side of your house.  Making this information readily available to the user would make most people more aware of how much water they are using.  

The Koolhaus Faucet displays its daily usage information on its LCD display and the data can even be routed to a computer to keep a detailed log of how much water they are using. Individual water gauges can also be installed in other faucets in the house and transmitted via Bluetooth back to the main faucet.

Research indicates that 51% of all water used in suburban homes is in the bathroom.  This gives a pretty good indication of how much water is being used and also how it can be saved.  We have a poll on our website asking visitors if they turn off the faucet while brushing there teeth.  Maybe more people would say yes, if they had one of these cool faucets.

LED Faucet Adapters That Don't Require Batteries!

Recently at TheKitchenFaucet.com, we have added new categories to our inventory.  We now have a variety of Waterfall Faucets and LED Faucets available for purchase.  We have also added faucet accessories to our inventory.  These include all kinds of faucet add ons such as touch less faucet adapters and led faucet adapters.

There is a new type of faucet adapter out recently which we will hopefully be able to offer people soon.  An LED faucet adapter to easily attach to your faucet head.  The cool thing about this product is that unlike most led faucets, this one requires no batteries to operate.

This one has a mini generator which runs every time the water is flowing and this constantly charges the little battery so you never have to worry about replacing it.  The light comes on when the water is turned on.  It also changes color depending on the temperature of the water.  When the water is very cold it will display a green light.  Medium tempered water displays blue and hot water display's red.

This little adapter can also be used to protect against burning yourself.  If the water is above 46 C or 115 F, it will flash red light warning you that the water is very hot.  This is a great faucet safeguard. We really like this product and hope to be selling it in the very near future.

EPA's We're For Water Campaign

Has the EPA started a reality TV show for saving water?  Well almost.  On July 14th, the Environmental Protection Agency started a water education campaign to aid in the water conservation efforts. Grabbing the publics interest, by putting four families against each other in a game to see who can save the most water.

The "We're for Water Campaign"  started in Los Angeles with two families that will travel across the country to New York where two different families will make the same week long trip across the country back to Los Angeles.  The families will stop in various cities across the country showing the public water saving techniques like fixing a leaking toilet and how to save the most water while shaving in the sink.

Being summertime, the Environmental Protection Agency thought it was a good time to show people how to save water.  Saving water is no laughing matter. The EPA has stated that between 1950 and 2000, the U.S. population has almost doubled, but that water use has more than tripled.  Peter Silva, assistant administrator at the EPA's Office of Water says "Whether by replacing an old, inefficient plumbing fixture with a WaterSense labeled product or adopting more water efficient behaviors, together we can help save water for future generations."

Visit our website for great deals on water efficient kitchen faucets

Let's Tighten Up That Kitchen Faucet

Of all the faucets in your home, I'm willing to bet that your kitchen faucet gets used the most.  Moving the head of the faucet from side to side all the time can loosen up the fasteners.  For the most part tightening up the kitchen faucet is going to take two people, simply because your not going to be able to hold on to the bottom part of the faucet under the sink while tightening as well.  To keep the kitchen faucet tight.... this time anyway, you may want to add a locking washer and maybe some adhesive around the treading to keep that faucet on there good.


Things you will need:

• Crescent Wrench
• Flash Light
• Pillow

Optional Items:

• Silicone Sealant
• Locking Washer
• Loctite Adhesive

1. Get everything out of the sink first.  You want to have a clean area to work with so go ahead and do those dishes.
2. Put a pillow down on the bottom part of the cabinet door under the sink, and position yourself with most of your upper body under the cabinet so you can see the faucet behind the sink.  Most times you really have to get up under there because the sink will be blocking your view of the connections.
3. With the flash light, see how the faucet is connected to the sink.  There will be either one, two, or three bolts holding the faucet to the sink.  These will most likely be separate from the hose connections, but could be surrounding the house connections as well.  You will just have to use your best judgement. 
4. Get some help real quick from the lazy person sitting in the den watching TV to hold the faucet from the top while you tighten it from underneath.
5. If you want to use the adhesive on the threads now is the time.  Loosen up the nuts under the sink and apply a thin layer of adhesive around the threads.
6. If your faucet is older(before 2000), you will probably need that crescent wrench right about now to tighten the nuts under the sink.  If you have a new kitchen faucet, the nuts will most likely be plastic and you can just use your hands to tighten the bolts.  Ask your lazy helper person to try and wiggle the faucet.  This will loosen up any possibility of it being seated incorrectly.  
7. Repeat step six until that thing is on there nice and good.
8. Join lazy person in the living room and feel good that you accomplished more than them today.

Water Pik Gets Approved for the WaterSense Label

Water Pik, Inc, a leading developer and manufacturer of many leading healthcare products when it comes to technological advances, became certified to bear the Environmental Protection Agencies(EPA) WaterSense Label on July 1st.  Seven of their line of advanced shower heads including the EcoFlow 5, 6, and the Watersaver passed the test.  Richard Bission, president and CEO of Water Pik said "We're thrilled the EPA has recognized seven of our shower heads with the WaterSense label so far and we're committed to working with the EPA to encourage consumers to make water efficient choices in the bathroom."

In order to be awarded the WaterSense label, a shower head must have a gallon per minute flow rate of 2.0 or less at a flowing pressure  of 80 pounds per square inch(psi).  It must also be able to hold this consistant flow rate across a wide range of pressures and also must have a consistant force and coverage while adhering to the first two priorities.

Waterfall Faucets | New Styles

A new style of lavatory faucet has come into play here in recent months, the cool looking faucets that have the appearance of a running waterfall.  Faucets are not just water running pipes anymore.  There are many extravagant styles and neat looking designs, and the flow of the water over the saucer looking plate makes for a beautiful sparkling run off into the sink.

From the look at most bases of waterfall faucets, they look like a pretty intimidating installation procedure, but in fact they are actually very easy to install.  The installation is that of any regular faucet, while the chromed out shiny square base is mainly just for show.

Waterfall faucets come in many varieties, but the glass tray faucet with a chrome base is by far the most popular these days.  There are also many different glass variations including blue, green, pink, lilac, and even a clear glass tray for a contemporary look.

Fixing That Annoying Dripping Coming From Your Faucet

I think everyone can agree that dripping water sounds from a leaky faucet are very annoying and can be frustrating at times.  Not to mention that your slowly wasting water away and there is nothing you can do about it.  Well hopefully there is something you can do about it.  Leaking faucets are mostly caused by the rubber washers and o-rings that have been worn out. Here are some tips on how you can go about conquering this dilemma:

1. Cut off the water supply under the sink.
2. Open the faucet to releave and water still under pressure between the cut-off values and the faucet.
3. Most handles are attached to the faucet with a screw.  Unscrew the handle to the faucet.
4. If there is a large metal nut holding all the internal parts in place and it is loose, you may have just found your problem. If not you need to remove all the other little pieces.
5. VERY IMPORTANT: Make sure you note the order you are taking them out in.  You need to put them back in the same order.
6. Replace any worn out rubber o-rings, springs, and washers you find.
7. Put all the parts back in the reverse order you took them out in.  Turn on the cut-off valves under your sink, and test your faucet.
8. It may take a second for the water to come back up through your hoses so you can expect some air at first.

Hopefully this fixes your leaking faucet problem.  If you couldn't get it to work, we have a bunch of kitchen faucets and bathroom faucets that we guarantee will not drip for many years

Use your toothbrush to clean the bathroom faucet!!

Having a clean bathroom faucet adds great appeal and a finishing touch to your newly cleaned bathroom, but sometimes its hard to get into all those little crevices around your faucet.  A good idea to get those faucets sparkling again is to use your old toothbrush.

A great way to put cleaning your bathroom on the calendar is to wait until you need to throw away your toothbrush anyway, and then you can use it with toothpaste to clean around those hard to get places.

Wayne Drop | Water Conservation Hero

There is a new hero in town and his name is Wayne Drop.  He is the newest mascot to promote Water Conservation and is associated with one of our favorite websites.  Water Use It Wisely.  Wayne Drop met with the local officials to promote the Whatcom Water Alliance, or WWA for short.  The WWA works to promote water conservation by having fun activities and getting the people of the community educated on water conservation awareness fun for kids of all ages. 


Birch Bay Water and Sewer District in Whatcom County provides water and wastewater services to 7,500 in Whatcom County which is located in northwest area of Washington state.  An increase in water consumption happens every summer. So to try and keep the consumption at a minimum, the WWA promotes a voluntary watering schedule which always starts on June 1st and goes to September 15th.  


The winters in this region are warmer and dryer than usual in this area which heightens the concern about drought and reduced water supplies for 2010.  This makes water conservation more important than ever.  The WWA requests that residents with odd-numbered streets limit outdoor watering to Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays and even numbered street address water on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.  Monday's are reserved to let the reservoirs fill back up after the weekend comes.

Ecologic Transportation Promotes Water Conservation

Ecologic Transportation, Inc, a holding company to a lot of subsidiaries who are all dedicated to environmental friendly transportation is launching an awareness initiative for water conservation.  Ecologic is at home in Santa Monica, CA where they promote green cars and clean fuels.

Their first product, called Ecologic Shine is a biodegradable waterless car cleaner that has no environmental impact because of no contaminating water run-off.  Each car cleansing saves 40-60 gallons of water. You can follow Ecologic's conservation initiative on their facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ecologictranspo

Check out our new LED Faucets at TheKitchenFaucet.com

New Waterfall Faucets

At TheKitchenFaucet.com, we've recently added new waterfall style faucets to our inventory.  Most of the waterfall faucets are great for use in the bathtub, but many of them will also work as bathroom faucets.    These faucets come with easy to read installation instructions.

In addition, all of these faucets have passed quality testing to insure that leaks do not occur even under high pressures.  All of the waterfall faucets are made of high quality ceramic valves which ensures they can withstand extremely high temperatures.  The service life of these valves are well above 600,000 hours, which is above industry standards.

All the waterfall faucets are also chrome plated to keep a vibrant shine for years to come and have met chrome-plated standards for the United States and Europe.  These faucets also come with some easy to install instructions.  Check out our waterfall style faucets by visiting our site.

American Standard Hits the Road

American Standard, one of the leading manufacturers of kitchen faucets, bathroom faucets, and shower heads has a 44 foot mobile showcase room where they are teaching people about water conservation.  They call it "The Responsible Bathroom Tour" and they are planning on visiting 300 locations this year in the U.S.

The American Standard Tour's goal is to raise awareness about how to conserve water.    The teaching and techniques they show will help a four-person family save almost 50,000 gallons of water each year.  Saving water is good for the environment, but some people might not see how saving water can reflect a significant dollar amount on their water bill.  At the TheKitchenFaucet.com, we're pretty confident people can see how saving that much HOT water can save on their electric bill though.

The tour is educating locals on some financial estimates of how much they can save with low flow bathroom fixtures.  Some water saving tips that will help the environment. As well as some demonstrations of their new water saving products.  Don Devine, American Standard CEO said "Our goal is to educate consumers that conservation can and does begin at home."

Low Flow Shower Heads

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 17 percent of residential indoor water use is attributed to showering.  The EPA recently put out a standard for shower head manufacturers to be able to have there "WaterSense" logo on them.  To read more about the water sense certifications for shower heads, you can visit read about it at the EPA's website.

Many Shower heads before 1992 can use huge amounts of water.  We are talking more than 5 gallons per minute.  While this is nice to get the shampoo out of your hair quickly, it is never required and will empty your water heater very quickly.  Causing unneeded energy consumption in addition to the wasted water. Low flow shower heads will help alleviate some of this energy and water waste.

So if you are in the market for a new shower head, make sure it has the "Watersense" logo on it.  You can find many different low flow shower heads on our website.

How to Flush Dirty Water From The Pipes In Your Home after Possible Water Contamination

A water main burst can cause contaminates to enter your drinking water supply.  Of course boiling your water will get rid of all contaminates, but following these simple steps will help clear any contaminates from your tap water after a boil order has been issued from a city.   Here are some tips:

Cold Water:  Run tap for 1 minute or more before drinking or tooth brushing

Hot Water:  Never use only hot water straight from the water heater for drinking or food preperation.
Note:  not sure about the new tank-less water heaters recently emerging in society since water does not actually stay in the tank like old water heaters.  


Water Dispenser on the Fridge:  Flush at least one quart of water before drinking.   
Note:  You might want to replace the filter as well as it could possibly hold contaminates inside after being flushed through.

Dishwashers:  Run dishwasher empty one time before washing dishes in them.

Food and Baby Formula: Discard of any baby formula which may have contained tap water or food prepared for baby's on the day of a boil order.

Ice Cubes:  Always empty your ice cube tray after a boil order has been announced.  Also discard any ice made over a 24 hour period after a boil order has been announced.

Students in a New Jersey School Work To Save Energy and Reduce Waste

An elementry school in New Jersey is competing with 13 other buildings to represent New Jersey in a national competition for energy efficiency.  Van Holtem Primary School is being monitored by EPA's measurement and tracking tools from online. Principle George Rauh says "We are committed to improving our energy efficiency and we look forward to seeing how we measure up against other buildings across the nation." 

Rauh says that since September of last year, they have saved over $10,000 in electricity, gas, water consumption and heating costs.   All they do is the basic tasks that all facilities should do like turning off the lights and water faucets, and finding ways to insulate and reduce heating costs.  Rauh contributes most of the efforts to a group of 4th graders called the School Energy Efficiency Squad.  Squad Member Julia Brickfield who is 10 checks the empty rooms for lights that haven't been turned off during her recess time.  She says "saving energy is more important than just going outside and playing.  We're doing something that really matters."  Rauh finds that sometimes he finds that the students are teaching the parents and staff about how to be efficient.

New Digital Temperature Shower Head

In the world of digitality, we gotta have super new wave digital shower head for our bathroom.  Some cats in Germany have come up with "The AquaFountain" by Grohe's Ondus collection.  This little number lets you set the exact temperature on the keypad.  It can hold temperature settings in memory for 2 different users.  This can come in really handy if you have a new tankless electric water heater.  


The tankless water heaters heat the water based on pressure and this makes it very sensitive.  By having a digital gauge that can set the exact temperature you need, their is not much need to change the temperature all the time to get the right temp.


A little over the top, but it also has a phone on it that will turn off the shower so you can answer that important call. Not sure I would want to halt the water flow every time a telemarketer wants to ask a question.  And to top it all off, it even has a nice timer so you can limit your shower time and conserve some water.

A Couple of New Faucet Inventions Include...

There are a couple of new techie devices for faucets that are pretty neat:

First we have the "Spring-Loaded Smart Faucet." (shown to the right here) It can attach to pretty much any tap.  You can leave the faucet handles open and the water doesn't run unless you are pressing on the slick chrome vertical bar over there.  This one might be a little over the top for saving money on water, but it can definitely help with hot water savings and what not.  It is basically an alternative for having the motion sensor to turn the water on.

Second, if you really want to work for your water, a designer named Harvey Bewley has come up with the "Twist Faucet" which is this one over to the left.  To get the water out of this thing you have to crank the knob.   It also has a digital read-out that shows how much water you are consuming as well as a water temperature gauge.  This is new age faucet is just a concept right now, so you can't really get this one in the store quite yet.  Still it is a neat idea, and I think temperature gauges are up and coming seeing as how the digital temperature is almost required for the new instant water heaters some  residence have starting installing in their homes.

People have started remodeling again.

A report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard said on April 15th that spending on remodeling  is going to increase this year, partly due to our current economic situation.  People are realizing that they will not be able to move out of their homes any time soon.  Instead of revamping their kitchen or bathroom because of the equity available, now people are doing it simply because they will be living their a little bit longer and want to make it more comfortable for themselves.

People aren't doing as much major remodeling anymore.  More smaller projects is the way of the future. There is a nice article on eHow.com to help in deciding to remodel your home or move out.  If your looking for a good kitchen or bathroom faucet to add to your remodeling adventure, should you sway toward remodeling, we have  a wide variety of faucets to choose from.

Ford Motor Company Joins the Water Conservation Effort

Going Green seems to be one of the hot topics of 2010.  With the automobile makers struggling to stay in the market they should be doing everything they can to keep a good public relations mentality.  Ford Motor Company this year has joined the hot topic about Going Green and water conservation.

Ford Motor Company is the first of the automakers to take a leadership role in joining the CDP Water Disclosure program.  The CDP(Carbon Disclosure Project) established the disclosure framework of carbon emission for about 2,500 companies around the world.  the CDP Water Disclosure program extends the CDP to include water usage.

"Environment and safe engineering, water scarcity is a critical global issue and has significant environmental implications." says Sue Cischke, the Ford group vice president.  The Ford Company has reduced their carbon footprint down 34% since 2003.  We at TheKitchenFaucet.com are proud of the Ford Motor Company in their efforts for water conservation.

Los Angeles water usage in Feburary is the lowest in 30 years

The Department of Water and Power in Los Angeles is proud of their report this month.  The city reached a 31-year low for the month of February.  Officials say this is because of the ongoing water rationing starting in 2007 due to drought in the city.  


Even with an 3 million person increase in these past 30 years, the citizens of L.A. managed to reduce there water usage by nearly 30% compared to February of 1997.  City water operations offical, Jim McDaniel, says "What we're hoping is that people are learning to live with these wiser water habits in a way that hopefully doesn't negatively impact their lifestyle."


TheKitchenFaucet.com is a strong advocate of water conservation and will continue to keep on the look out for positive acts of saving water around the globe.

Water conservation efforts increase in Mountain View, CA

With the current state of the economy and businesses trying to cut down on water costs, the city of Mountain View, CA used nearly a billion gallons less in 2009 than in 1997.  In 1997, water usages peaked at 13.25 million gallons per day.  Many residents and businesses in Mountain View have started using drought-tolerant landscaping, water-efficient faucets, shower heads, and toilets.
    Other developments in the city, including green building codes, are in the early stages of development which will call for mandatory water-efficient faucets and other fixtures.  Businesses in the area can also receive water efficient toilets and faucets free from the Water District. In addition to these efforts, businesses as well as homeowners can receive cash rebates for replacing high water use landscaping with more water efficient landscaping.  $2,000 can be obtained for homeowners and up to $20,000 for businesses.

More information can be obtained by calling the city's water conservation hotline at (650) 903-6216.

Dow Chemical's Run for Water Event

Dow Chemicals will be hosting "The Dow Live Earth Run for Water" event in Atlanta this Sunday, April 18th.   It should be a really fun time with a series of 6K run/walks occurring over the course of 24 hours.  There will be live musical performances featuring Rob Thomas and many more, as well as water educational activities.

This will be in an effort to make more people aware how hard it is to get water in some countries.  The reason for the run being 6K is because this is the average distance many women and children have to travel every day to get water for themselves and their families.

Tickets for this event are between $30 and $40 for a full day and all the donations and proceeds from the event will go toward global fund raising efforts and scalable water programs such as Pump Aid and Indonesia Water Partnership.

We at thekitchenfaucet.com are strong advocates of the movement to be aware of water conservation.

Timed-rotary faucet adds to eco-friendly appeal.

      Turn this lavatory faucets retro rotary dial to 5, 10 or 15 seconds to manage how long the water flows from the spout.  Designer, Eun Ji Byeon developed this stylish polished metal design to make its users become eco-conscious and get a little joy out of new ways to conserve water when washing your hands.

      This is a cool alternative to the push-button water conservative faucets, in which you would never know how long the water will flow until you have to press it again.  Here you just turn the dial, just like an old-rotary phone, to the desired amount of seconds for the water to flow.  This faucet is great for residential applications where the the very expensive motion sensing faucets can not be used.

     There is an option on this new faucet to keep the water continually flowing, but the idea of being able to gauge how much (or how long) you need water to flow is very interesting.  In addition to a new timing mechanism for water flow, it also increases the user's awareness of how much water is needed to perform different tasks like washing hands or brushing teeth.

       

Watersense is on the rise with top Plumbing Manufacturers

Delta Faucet has been saying for a while now that there kung fu is the best when it comes to getting their products compliant with the WaterSense initiative specified by the EPA.  To be able to carry the watersense logo on your product, manufacturers of shower heads have to engineer them to flow at a rate of 2 gallons per minute or less. Well, Delta Faucet recently announced that more than 50% of their bath suites feature shower heads will now be caring the WaterSense logo.  They are able to accomplish this with their H2Oinetic Technology.  This technology uses larger droplets of water to create a drenching sensation, while using less actual water.  Paul Patton, a senior product developer at Delta Faucet says "We take our role as a WaterSense partner very seriously and are committed to working with the EPA to encourage efficient use of water resources, and to actively protect the future of our nation's water supply."

Culture of Conservation Approved!!

        A new Georgia State Bill recently passed to promote even more water conservation in the State of Georgia It also sends a message to our neighbooring states of Florida and Alabama who share our water resource that Georgia is doing all that it should to be a good steward and taking care of our natural resources.
      The bill passed almost unanimously with the State Senate at 52-0 and the house with 166-5.  Some of the major points of the bill will allow watering outdoors between the hours of 4.pm. and 10 a.m.  Even more importantly this bill requires that builders constructing new homes and buildings. have to use more efficient water fixtures, such as aerated bathroom faucets and low-flow toilets. 
     Governor Sunny Perdue says "I will sign the bill as soon as it lands on his desk."  Perdue is also negotiating an agreement, for water-sharing of the  Chattahoochee river which feeds Lake Lanier, with our neighboring states, Florida and Alabama, who depend on the natural resource as well.

Why Would Someone Steal Your Faucet?

      Apparently, lavatory faucets are pretty hot on the black market these days.  Last Friday, faucets were stolen out of a bathroom of a Quiznos Subs in Lakewood, Colorado.  Val Watson, co-owner said "When I saw it, I was shocked, and then everyone who came in afterward, they were shocked, too."  Nothing like this has ever happened to the Watson's Sub shop in the past five years they have owned it.  
      
     Steve Davis, a spokesman of the Lakewood Police Department, said "In the last few years, it seems like anything made out of copper, bronze and sometimes aluminum has become something that is stolen.  No matter what form it's in."   With the economy the way it is, many precious metals have been highlighted as a valuable material and can be worth quite a chunk of change at the recycling centers.  Maybe we should start lo-jacking any fixture with an abundant amount of metal associated with it.

Dale City, CA has new water conservation rules

      Mayor Carol Klatt said last week "We have to look to the future for our water.  Landscaping is on area where measures can be taken to save water."  after the city council passed an ordinance which requires owners of new construction or landscaping projects to reduce their outdoor water usage by 25 percent.

   Dale City has really been promoting their water conservation effort lately.  Last month, the council passed an ordinance for indoor water usage.  Requiring that all new construction to feature water-efficient fixtures such as new aerating kitchen faucets.  Many cities in the surrounding areas are creating similar ordinance in their regions in response to recent legislative pressure to address the water supply problem.

Fix a Leak Week!

Last week in the Chesapeake bay area was "Fix a Leak Week." Sponsered by EPA's WaterSense® program, the event helps consumers in the mid-Atlantic and across the country save water by indentifing and repair dripping kitchen and bathroom faucets, running toilets, leaky shower heads.\
    
      EPA regional administrator Shawn M. Garvin said "Leaks can add up to more than 10,000 gallons of water wasted at home every year--that's enough to fill a backyard swimming pool.  The EPA created Fix a Leak Week to save water for future generations and to help homeowners save more than 10 percent on their water bills."

Have Your Kitchen Looking Fabulous

         Kitchens are a place where family comes together even during a busy day of hussle and bussle of our busy lives.  Every time someone has a party at their house, everyone seems to gather around the kitchen to talk.  Sure we stand around the dining room and other rooms of the house to mingle, but it never fails that everyone seems to flock at some point to the kitchen.  So when it comes to showing off your home to your family and friends, you better have a snazzy kitchen faucet to show off.


        While, we know that the kitchen is probably the most occupied room in the house, it also is the most hygienic area.  Adding a brass finish kitchen faucet to your home will keep it that way for years to come.

Peoria Promotes Water Conservation

Peoria, Arizona where the land is vast, but the price of property ownership is very high has a website to help promote water conservation.  At Peoria's Water Conservation Website, you can use their Interactive Watering Guide, which uses nice visual aids in their plant watering guide and lawn watering guide to make it fun and exciting to conserve water around the home.  They also have a list of Plumbing Products, including aerators for kitchen faucets, they promote that provide different and exciting ways we can save water as well as energy.
      In addition to these great features of their water conservation website, Peoria also has a rebate program designed to award citizens who have installed certain water saving technologies, to receive a credit on utility bills for those accounts with the City of Peoria.

What Could Be Even Cooler Than A Touch-less Kitchen Faucet

There is a new type of electric faucet in town and they are calling it the hybrid faucet.  If you haven't heard, the new thing in bathroom and kitchen faucets for home use is the ability to be able to tap your faucet with the back of your hand or forearm in order to turn it on or off.  This comes in very handy when you have been handling food and would rather not get actual faucet all dirty by getting your food covered hands all over it.  These new faucets have electric parts meaning they use electricity.
      The conventional way of handling this is by having a couple of C or D batteries under the sink.  Having a touch-less faucet is great, but I'm not sure it is worth the added hassle of having something else in your home that requires changing out batteries all the time.  Well now their is a new system that uses the hydro flow of the water through the pipe to generate electricity and recharge those batteries.  The hybrid-energy system faucet has been tested by the manufacturer to help the batteries last up to 30 years.
     The new product is currently only available for commercial use, but when it hits the market we will have to put up a couple of these bad boys for sale.  For now check out our line of discount bathroom faucets and discount kitchen faucets we have today.
  

Shower Heads Too Strong, Drains not Strong Enough

A new hospital in El Camino, California has a problem with  high pressure shower heads that deliver too much water and drains that retaining too much water.  The patients are being asked to not take showers until they can fix the problem.  This is most likely going to cause a stinky situation.  With 85 to 90 percent of the patient rooms, having this problem it is likely to get very stinky.  I guess they will have to resort to the old way of doing things, sponge baths.

Kohler's Elate Pullout Kitchen Faucet

Kohler, one of the world's leading manufacturer of the kitchen faucet, has a new addition to their line called the Elate Pullout Kitchen Faucet.  This design is a sleek looking faucet that is available at an affordable price.  Available in two finishes such as Polished Chrome and stainless steel.  The Elate ha a pull out feature which has a must have for any kitchen sink.  The pullout makes it easy to get around all of your dishes andpots and pans. It also allows the user to switch between three spray settings, pause, spray and the steam options.  It also is very good at conserving water with a gallons per minute of 2.2.  It also comes easy to install with all the necessary parts for both single-hole and three-hole installations.

Stuff to Think About When Buying a new Bathroom Faucet

Buying a new bathroom faucet is probably not the most important decision you'll ever make.  I mean we'ere not talking about a car, a house, or possible even your spouse (ha, ha).  Even still there are a few things you want to consider before buying the first faucet you see.

Most faucets these days are made of solid brass, well the inside of them(the guts) anyway.  If you have a some pretty hard water, this is the best kind to have anyway.  Solid brass is very good at resisting calcifaction and corrosion, and because of this solid brass faucets are often more expensive.  If your looking at faucets and you notice one is more expensive than the other and you can't figure out why,  nine times out of ten this is the reason.
In the middle of faucet types is Zinc Die cast taps, which are reasonably sturdy, but will need to be replaced after a period of time. And then at the bottom of the barrel is the ever popular plastic faucet.  These are the bottom of the line faucets that you will find in many apartment buildings.

 Probably the most important part of choosing a faucet for your bathroom with the concern of wasting your time returning them before you get the right one.  You must get one that fits the amount of holes in your sink as well as knowing how far apart they are.  Most sinks have two or three holes while most faucets need two, one for the hot and one for cold water.  If your sink has three holes and you only need two, that is fine.  As long as you have more holes than you need, everything should be fine.

If your going to be replacing the faucet anyway, it is fairly easy to remove the faucet to see how many holes are in your sink.  Make sure you turn off the shut-off valves under your sink, then simply unscrew the clamps on the hot and cold pipes which clamp the faucet to the sink.  Now you should be home free.  If you have any  questions about this procedure, you can check out our article on replacing your bathroom faucet or right a comment here and we will do our best to answer your question.