The Faucet

Such discs last much longer due to their high wear resistance and provide more accurate control. These discs or valves are now in wide use.

Other recent innovations include built-in filter cartridges for reducing chlorine, lead, and cysts; built-in pullout sprays; faucets designed for people with disabilities; and electronic faucets. The latter were introduced in the early s for conservation and hygienic purposes. These faucets are equipped with an infrared beam When a person puts their hands underneath the faucet, the beam is disrupted, which triggers the water to turn on.

Battery-operated electronic faucets have also become available in recent years. Brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, is the most widely used material for faucets due to its resistance to soft-water corrosion and hard-water calcification. It usually contains some alloying elements—like bismuth—to make it easier to process. Brass is received as bar stock of 0. The majority of the other components that make up a faucet are made of other metals or ceramics and are received as finished parts from other manufacturers. To meet a variety of consumers' needs, faucets come in a wide range of styles, colors, and finishes.

Ergonomic designs may involve a longer spout length and easier to operate handles. The shape of the faucet and its finish will affect the manufacturing process. Some designs will be more difficult to machine or forge than others. A different finishing process may be used to achieve a different look. For the homeowner, special finishes are available, including brushed nickel, polished nickel, satin black, gold, platinum, and a variety of colors.

Consumers also now customize the look of the faucet, combining more than one type of finish. Warranties are longer and more features are available. The manufacturing process for faucets has become highly automated, with computers controlling most of the machines. Productivity and efficiency have thus improved over the years. The basic process consists of forming the main body of the faucet some-times including the spout if no swivel is needed , applying a finish, and then assembling the various components, followed by inspection and packaging.

The faucet industry has also been impacted by environmental regulations, which have required special processes to be developed. Most manufacturers use a machining process to shape the body into the required size and dimensions. This involves first cutting the bars into short slugs and automatically feeding them into a computerized numerically controlled machining center of multi-spindle and multi-axis design.

This machine performs tuming, milling, and drilling operations. It typically takes about one minute to make a part. Larger faucets may require numerous machining operations. For instance, over 32 machining operations are required for some kitchen faucet bodies using a rotary machining center. With the proper machine, it can take as little as 14 seconds to make a part.

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Some parts, such as cast spouts for kitchen faucets, are also machined in a separate operation before assembly. After the first part is machined, it is checked against the blueprints to ensure it matches all dimensions. A go-no-go gauge is used to make sure the interior and exterior threads fit together. Since machining is automated, random samples are then checked for the more critical dimensions. Before plating, parts are visually checked for surface imper-fections, which are removed by sanding. After final assembly, every faucet is pressure tested with air for leaks and tested for durability.

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Faucets must also pass several environmental regulations. The National Sanitation Foundation 61 regulation, which limits contaminants in drinking water lead is lIppb [parts per billion] in water from endpoint devices , applies to kitchen faucets, lavatory faucets and drinking water dispensers.

Other laws are more strict—California's Proposition 65 limits the allowable lead to 5 ppb for a consumer faucet. There are also plumbing codes to deal with, which can vary from city to city. Many now require antiscald tub and shower faucets. To receive NSF Certification of a faucet, manufacturers first submit a list of all materials including the formulation used in the product. NSF Toxicologists then review the material formulations to determine potential contaminants that may extract from the faucet and into the drinking water.

NSF then conducts an inspection of the manufacturing facility to verify material formulations, material suppliers, quality control procedures and operations. Product samples are randomly selected for testing at NSF laboratories.

Faucets undergo a rigorous three-week testing sequence, where they are filled with an extractant water specified in the Standard. Selected water samples are analyzed for contaminants. If all contaminant levels of the product meet the requirements of the Standard, the product can be certified. To become certified, some manufacturers have had to completely modify their manufacturing process, such as switching to a purer brass material or adding a finishing rinse process. Scrap metal from the machining or forging process is recycled. The finishing processes may produce waste material that must be disposed of or minimized by recycling.

Since the majority of processes are automated, waste is minimized. Faucet manufacturers will continue to add value and quality to meet consumers' increasing demands. The number of styles and range in prices will expand, with higher end products becoming more popular as remodeling intensifies. Europe will continue to remain ahead of the United States in the design department, offering more modern styles and colors.

Although the overall manufacturing process will remain about the same, more automation will be used. Novel finishes produced using PVD technology will become more widely available as consumers recognize these finishes can offer both style and durability. This may require manufacturers to improve the economics of the process, since it is more expensive than chrome plating. The popularity of filtration will extend to faucets, as consumers realize the benefits of built-in filters.

This tooth and cog system is still used on most modern taps. Taps are normally connected to the water supply by means of a "swivel tap connector", which is attached to the end of the water pipe using a soldered or compression fitting, and has a large nut to screw onto the threaded "tail" of the tap, which hangs down underneath the bath, basin or sink.

A fibre washer which expands when wet, aiding the seal is used between the connector and the tap tail. The same connection method is used for a ballcock. The term tap is widely used to describe the valve used to dispense draft beer from a keg , whether gravity feed or pressurized.

A gas tap is a specific form of ball valve used in residential, commercial, and laboratory applications for coarse control of the release of fuel gases such as natural gas , coal gas , and syngas. Like all ball valves its handle will parallel the gas line when open and be perpendicular when closed, making for easy visual identification of its status. Water and gas taps have adjustable flow: Turning a valve knob or lever adjusts flow by varying the aperture of the control device in the valve assembly. The result when opened in any degree is a choked flow.

Its rate is independent of the viscosity or temperature of the fluid or gas in the pipe, and depends only weakly on the supply pressure , so that flow rate is stable at a given setting. At intermediate flow settings the pressure at the valve restriction drops nearly to zero from the Venturi effect ; in water taps, this causes the water to boil momentarily at room temperature as it passes through the restriction.

Bubbles of cool water vapor form and collapse at the restriction, causing the familiar hissing sound. At very low flow settings, the viscosity of the water becomes important and the pressure drop and hissing noise vanish; at full flow settings, parasitic drag in the pipes becomes important and the water again becomes quiet. The first screw-down tap mechanism was patented and manufactured by the Rotherham brass founders Guest and Chrimes in Most older taps use a soft rubber or neoprene washer which is screwed down onto a valve seat in order to stop the flow.

This is called a " globe valve " in engineering and, while it gives a leak-proof seal and good fine adjustment of flow, both the rubber washer and the valve seat are subject to wear and for the seat, also corrosion over time, so that eventually no tight seal is formed in the closed position, resulting in a leaking tap. The washer can be replaced and the valve seat resurfaced at least a few times , but globe valves are never maintenance-free.

Also, the tortuous S-shaped path the water is forced to follow offers a significant obstruction to the flow. For high pressure domestic water systems this does not matter, but for low pressure systems where flow rate is important, such as a shower fed by a storage tank, a "stop tap" or, in engineering terms, a " gate valve " is preferred. Gate valves use a metal disc the same diameter as the pipe which is screwed into place perpendicularly to the flow, cutting it off.

There is no resistance to flow when the tap is fully open, but this type of tap rarely gives a perfect seal when closed. In the UK this type of tap normally has a wheel-shaped handle rather than a crutch or capstan handle. Cone valves or ball valves are another alternative. These are commonly found as the service shut-off valves in more-expensive water systems and usually found in gas taps and, incidentally, the cask beer taps referred to above. Usually, when the handle is in line with the pipe the valve is open, and when the handle is across the pipe it is closed.

A cone valve consists of a shallowly tapering cone in a tight-fitting socket placed across the flow of the fluid. In UK English this is usually known as a taper-plug cock. A ball valve uses a spherical ball instead. In either case, a hole through the cone or ball allows the fluid to pass if it is lined up with the openings in the socket through which the fluid enters and leaves; turning the cone using the handle rotates the passage away, presenting the fluid with the unbroken surface of the cone through which it cannot pass.

Valves of this type using a cylinder rather than a cone are sometimes encountered, but using a cone allows a tight fit to be made even with moderate manufacturing tolerances. The ball in ball valves rotates within plastic seats. Hands free infrared proximity sensors are replacing the standard valve. Thermostatically controlled electronic dual-purpose mixing or diverting valves are used within industrial applications to automatically provide liquids as required.

Modern taps often have aerators at the tip to help save water and reduce splashes. Without an aerator, water usually flows out of the tap in one big stream. An aerator spreads the water flow into many small droplets. Modern bathroom and kitchen taps often use ceramic or plastic surfaces sliding against other spring -loaded ceramic surfaces or plastic washers.