Do Automatic Faucets Save Water – Find Out!

Automatics faucets are no new news. After Covid, even in public places, you’ll see touchless faucets ruling the scene. And this is no different in households. But apart from the hygiene benefits, do automatic faucets save water?

Yes, Automatic faucets do save water thanks to the use of sensors that can detect hands underneath and open/close water flow accordingly. In fact, some great models cut down almost half water usage that a manual faucet would use. 

I’ve put some information to give you a more detailed idea of how automatic faucets save water. In later sections, you’ll also discover more reasons to love automatic faucets. Keep On Reading…

Automatic Faucets Do Save Water – But Exactly How?

Automatic faucets can indeed contribute to water-saving benefits compared to manual models. And this comes from the sensors that are used in automatic faucets.

Image Credit: TotoUsa

Automatic faucets are enabled with a mechanism that can detect objects within a specific proximity. As soon as it detects an object, which is usually the hand of a person, the solenoid valve receives voltage. Then it triggers the valve to open and water is released through the spout.

Since the sensor can detect when there’s a need for water flow to be activated and when it must stay disconnected. This mechanism helps to reduce unnecessary water flow.

Let’s bring an experiment that was done to find the effectiveness of automatic faucets in terms of water saving. 

The researchers at Stanford University tested a special faucet designed to save water without users even realizing it. And the faucet gave an outlook of automatically adjusting on its own. 

However, in reality, a researcher was controlling it behind the curtain. People who participated washed dishes 3 times in total. The 1^st time, they washed dishes regularly without the faucet being controlled.

The Results Were Eye Opening:

• Participants used 36% less water the 2nd time when the faucets were controlled by researchers.
• The 3rd time, participants used 10% less water compared to the 1st time but this time the researchers were not controlling the faucet.

The experiment concluded that smart automatic faucets have great potential for saving water as they can adapt to washing habits. And the user washes according to their needs without even noticing the mechanism of the automatic faucet reducing water wastage. 

Some faucets use even advanced sensors capable of detecting leaking faucets contributing to water bills.

How Much Water Do Automatic Faucets Save?

While explaining the water-saving benefits of their touchless faucets, Oras Shared

“You can cut your water consumption by as much as 50% by switching from conventional faucets to touchless ones. This is due to the nozzle allowing less water to pass through while mixing air with the water to give the same feel as a larger quantity of water. The water flow stops automatically when the sensor is no longer activated.”

This statement gives a great clue of the water saving extent of using automatic faucets. Cutting down water usage to half is huge. 

And this does not even take away from the user experience. Thanks to the air mixing with water technology. The air adds volume to the flow, keeping the feel of using more water still there while reducing water wastage.

Something to remember is that there are so many other manufacturers producing touchless or automatic faucets. The technology and making that goes behind vary quite a lot. So you may experience even better water-saving benefits with an automatic faucet from other brands. 

Here I have just used the example of Oras faucets to give you an idea of how much water-saving potential these manual faucet alternatives have.

What Are the Advantages of Automatic Faucets – More Reasons to Get It!

Touchless Equals to More Hygienic

One of the biggest benefits of automatic faucets is the fact that touchless activation/deactivation supports the idea of sanitation to a whole new level.

No need to use dirty hands on the handles. Almost zero chance of leaving any harmful germ behind. Fantastic assurance of reducing cross-contamination risks. Clearly, these are hygiene goals that automatic faucets are meeting quite well.

Added Convenience in High Traffic Areas

In public places that usually have more traffic and usage, the need to manually search and use the handle for faucet activation can take up a lot of time. It may seem trivial to one person. 

But in public spots, it’s about hundreds if not thousands of people using these fixtures. The accumulated time for all these individuals won’t be negligible clearly. Automatic faucets can cut down these inconveniences wonderfully.

Accessibility for Limited Mobility People

Individuals who have a disability or simply families with kids and the elderly would find an automatic faucet not less than a savior. Turning on the handle for activating water flow with a manual faucet might be super easy for most. 

But someone with limited mobility finds it quite challenging. Making manual models not accessible to a wide range of users. These common faucet problems are not available when using an automatic faucet.

Looks Aesthetically Pleasing

And finally, these smart faucets are designed with aesthetics quite different than what we usually see in manual models. The appeal an automatic faucet can add to any place is clearly superior to the traditional handle-accommodated models.

Wrapping Up

And there you have your answer. Do automatic faucets save water? Exactly how does it do that and to what extent? 

I’ve tried to answer these common queries in this guide. Also, I have added a few more advantages that are great reasons to switch from manual to automatic faucets. Whether it’s for your home bath or kitchen area, or simply at a busier place like the office washroom.

This may come as an effort to cut down water bills. But there’s a more worthy purpose to it. We must pay attention to reducing water wastage for the welfare of our world. 

These are limited resources that we must be gratefully using. As a responsible human being, saving water is a concern you and I equally need to bear.

I will see you soon in my next guide.