Stupid Kalifornia Low-Flow Kitchen Faucets - Peerless from Amazon

[The Real Bev]

Finally replaced our ancient wall-mounted kitchen faucet with a nice shiny new Peerless from Amazon. The problem is that due to Kalifornia's water-saving requirements it takes half a minute to fill the coffeepot and several minutes to fill the sink to wash dishes. WHO KNEW?

Local plumbing supply place said there was nothing to be done. I suppose I could return it and get an out-of-state friend to order a NORMAL one and then send it to us, but that's laying the problem on an innocent bystander.

So does anyone know how to tweak a low-flow faucet to make it REASONABLE? The plumbing guy might be worrying about legal difficulties...

I can understand doing this to shower heads, but NOBODY just stands there and watches a faucet run water down the drain. What were those assholes thinking?

[angelica...]

You fill the sink to wash dishes? Get a dish pan (or better yet, a dishwasher).

Perhaps not. Manufacturers tend to prefer to make one design, so we all suffer when Kalifornia runs out of water. I just checked Amazon (I'm in Michigan, where the concept of wasting water is pretty much a puppet show) and the first Peerless I found said "CA Prop 65 Compliant".

It probably depends on the particular design of the faucet.

Actually, I do just stand there and watch a faucet run water down the drain, while I'm waiting for the hot water to arrive.

Don't get us started on the CARB gas cans.

Cindy Hamilton

[hubops]

Did you consider that you might rather place an Amazon order for the proper faucet ... ? Rather than blame the state government for your stupidity ? John T.

[jimmy]

So you don't like the water-saver choices the democrat overlords forced on you? This is yet another example of "rules for thee but not for me."

I guarantee that there is more than one democrap politician that showers under a custom-built shower system that flows >10 GPM.

In the early days, the fix was as simple as removing a restriction plate in the aerator but I suspect most have buried the restriction in the cartridge or inlet tubes by now.  If there's not a youtube "repair" video, you'll just have to tear it apart to see.

If you are looking for logic from the democrat's rules, you won't find it.

FWIW, I used to drive by democrat Senator Pocketstuffer's house on the way to work.  His lawn sprinkler system was probably wasting 50 GPM so his lawn would be green.

[invalid unparseable]

I suspect Amazon will only ship California compliant faucets to California. I once bought a transformer type toy from Amazon for a friend in the UK's son because they would not ship it too the UK.

I recall years ago people buying toilets in Canada when only low flow became available here.

[Snag]

Have you considered running that water into a container and using it to water your house plants ? If it takes more than ten seconds to get hot water , you need a point of use heater to supplement the main unit - we did this because the run to the kitchen sink was taking too long to get hot water to the dishwasher , plus that water wasn't hot enough when it got there . As far as the new gas cans go , I found a design that has a telescoping spout , the tip is in the tank neck before the gas flows . I did remove the "safety latch" ...

[angelica...]

No, I don't. Water is cheaper than electricity here. Gas-heated water is cheaper than electricity-heated water.

I don't always just stand there and let it run down the drain. If there's something useful that cold-ish water can do, I use it.

Our water is plenty hot when it gets there. I measured it at 140 F one day. I just temped the cold water coming out of the spout. 53 F. It's warmer in the summer.

My husband is pretty inventive about defeating those features, too.

[Ralph Mowery]

California laws are screwing up the country. YOu might try unscrewing the aireator at the end of the faucet and seeing if there is anything there to restrict the flow.

I have spilled more gas trying to fill the small engines with the new tanks than I ever did before. Started ordering some 'water tank replacement spouts' from ebay to put on my tanks.

[Arthur Conan Doyle]

In the early days of low flow faucets, the fixture manufacturers put a flow restrictor disc in the shower head or fixture connector that was easy to remove. Nowdays, most of the fixtures are designed end to end to limit the amount of water that will pass. For a while it was possible to order high flow fixtures from Canada, but I haven't checked lately to see if that was still possible.

It still annoys me to see these massive shower heads in the fixture aisle knowing that they don't provide any decent water flow.

[Arthur Conan Doyle]

Same here. The latest pushbutton style spouts are insane. I expect the CARB Commandants will soon decree non-removable/unique thread spouts at some point in the near future.

[Ed Pawlowski]

All of us have the flow restrictions. In some, it is a matter of taking out a plastic disc restrictor.

An alternative is a Kohler that has a button you can hold to increase flow when filling but goes back to low flow when you leave it running for rinsing or for no use because people can be wasteful and leave them run.

Now that you kow other types exist you can be a smarter shopper.

[invalid unparseable]

That would be the first thing to try. It might be as simple as a washer put in to restrict flow or in the aerator itself. Hard to believe manufacturer would re-engineer the faucet just for California.

[Ralph Mowery]

About as uselsess as the button on some riding lawn mowers. You press that button to keep the blades running while baking up or the engine stops. ONe I bought a few years ago had a position on the switch that let you defeat that button. One the newer one I bought, I just put a wire around the contacts of it.

[rbowman]

May the asshole who designed those die a slow and painful death after trying to fill a lawnmower. Luckily the ranch supply has a kit supposedly to be used to repair older cans. It fits fine.

CostCo gas isn't that much of a saving and they recently installed Kalifornia Approved Donkey Dick nozzles. I'll pay a couple of cents a gallon more to not have to deal with those. They really suck when you're trying to gas up a bike.

[rbowman]

You're assuming 49 state models exist.

[The Real Bev]

It turns out that it's a federal requirement since 199x. Who knew? I knew about shower heads, but FAUCETS?

[gfretwell]

I take the spout off and use a big funnel when I am filling my boat. I can dump in five gallons in 30 seconds or so. I do still have a few of those old style spouts tho for mowers and such.

[rbowman]

A couple of years ago I stayed at an older motel in Grand Coulee. It was slanted toward fishermen with a cleaning station outside of the cabins. The shower was like standing under a comfortably hot firehose. The cabin had a nice little kitchen too. I was thinking about moving in.

[rbowman]

When the electric co-op sent a big box of assorted CFLs I used them. A few years later they send LED lights. I used them. When they sent the huge 2 gpm shower heads I ignored them. I wonder if could adapt them to the garden hose for lightly watering plants?

[gfretwell]

Most of they water savers do the restricting in the cartridge. Price Pisser sent me an "experimental" cartridge with slightly bigger holes when I complained and it helped a little. The problem is they are rated 3 GPM at 80 PSI and a lot of people don't have that much water pressure. I looked at the fire sprinkler system at the tire store the other day, fed straight from the water main and it had 55 PSI. My well pump switch is set 30-50. That is usually about all you get out of them. A brand new pump might get 60+ but as they age, 50 is about it.