My Water Saver Game Changer: A Realistic First Step to Reducing Water Expenses

Hello everyone!

Last year, I became really interested in environmental issues, reducing waste, and saving water. I read about something called a water aerator, a device that enriches water flow with oxygen, leaving 60% of the water and 40% of oxygen in the flow.

This has a significant impact on water usage. With some simple math, I realized using this device would save me 40% of my water bill if I had it on all the faucets in the house.

We've been trying to reduce our water usage for a while now. One of the first steps we took was installing a water meter. Not only does the hot water go straight from the boiler, but the gas also just flows straight out. So, we turn off the faucet while washing dishes, don't open it fully, and so on.

I'll share my experience with the water aerator, whether it's worth buying, if it really saves water, and my thoughts on it.

General Information:

Place of purchase - AliExpress.

Price - around 250 rubles.

I got the water aerator as a prize on a survey website last year, so I only know that it was shipped from China via AliExpress.

Now, you can find the same thing on Ozon, Yandex Market, and Wildberries. If you're interested and don't want to wait, you can buy it there.

Components:

It looks like plastic to me.

Packaging:

The water aerator came in a cardboard box with a transparent window. I don't remember if there was any instruction manual, but it was clear that I could easily replace the faucet adapter myself.

External Appearance and Functionality:

The adapter looked like this when I first got it.

Water Aerator (Saver) If you look from top to bottom, all the parts are plastic, although I'm not sure about the middle ring. The water aerator looks nice and, after two months of use, it still looks brand new - I haven't needed to clean it. It's still shining like new, with no buildup at all. You can unscrew the aerator in three places. Just from the faucet.

Water Aerator (Saver) Between the black and the first silver part, right before the position lock, there's an additional filter. And the aerator itself, to clean the mesh, for example.

Water Aerator (Saver) The threads are normal everywhere, no stripping at all.

Water Aerator (Saver) If you take a closer look, you'll see that there are narrow holes everywhere, so that the water flows more slowly and gets oxygenated. Since I was initially confused about how this would work in practice, it's all about the design, where there are narrow slits inside and the water flow gets broken up. Aside from aeration, the faucet also has a movable head, and you can turn the aerator base to direct the water flow in the desired direction.

Water Aerator (Saver) And now, here's the thing.

Water Saver Aerator I was worried that water would leak through the gaps between the aerator's parts, but that wasn't the case - even after some construction work, when sand and rocks started coming out of the faucet, everything was fine. The filters are easy to clean, by the way.

Water Saver Aerator Don't get me wrong, these filters do clean the water, but they don't make it safe to drink straight from the tap. The faucet has two modes of water flow:

1. Normal stream.

Water Saver Aerator Mine's a bit unusual, since I turn the water on really slowly. When I tried the second mode, I got a normal stream - the one with the head closed. 2. Shower mode.

I thought my aerator didn't have this feature, even though I saw it when I was choosing the aerator - it's supposed to be a shower mode! I looked it up online, and it said I needed to pull down the silver part to open it up, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it to budge. I saw the little grooves for opening and closing it, but nothing worked. Trying to pull it down on the faucet itself was a bit scary, so I unscrewed the aerator and tried to use my fingers, nails, or even a towel to get it to move - nothing worked.

I thought maybe it was a faulty product, and I had no one to complain to, or maybe it was just a single-mode aerator. And I was convinced of it until today, when I decided to try again before writing this review. I poked my nail around the edge, but one side got stuck. I gave up and put it back on, thinking I'd try again on the faucet. And then, miracle! I managed to get it out! Here's the shower mode

Water Saver I was surprised to find that the aerator's performance wasn't as smooth as I expected from the photo. It turns out it's all about the water pressure. I opened the faucet just a little, as I'm used to, and when I turned it up a bit to cook some chicken, the aerator really came into its own! It's my new favorite thing!

Water Saver Installation: First of all, make sure to check the faucet before buying! I ordered it a year ago specifically for my bathroom sink, and the base was easy to remove. But when I moved in with my family, they replaced the faucet and the new one had a solid, no-threads design. So, the aerator only fit the kitchen faucet.

Water Saver At first, I had a hard time getting the aerator to fit on my kitchen faucet. I'd turn it, but it wouldn't budge. I even tried to force it, but it just wouldn't work. I ended up putting it in the bathroom and just leaving it there. A few days later, I thought, 'You know what? I'll just give it another try!' And, to my surprise, it went in easily. I had to take it apart for the photo shoot, and it was just as finicky as before. But I managed to get it back on. My Experience with It:

Because the aerator is a bit bulky, we'd sometimes accidentally knock it with a pot or our hands. But we got used to it quickly, and the design proved to be sturdy and reliable. The aerator's design makes it easy to turn, so we don't have to constantly fiddle with the faucet anymore.

But let's get to the point - does it really save water? I don't keep track of the meter readings, we always pay the standard 10 cubic meters. Sometimes the usage is less, sometimes more, but since we're always overpaying, and we get checked, there's no need to keep track of the numbers.

I evaluated the water savings by hand, literally. As I mentioned, my hot water comes from a gas column, which has a system with a perpetual flame, so I don't need to constantly turn it on and off. I do it like this: I turn on the water with the column, it heats up, I turn off the water, I wash the dishes, and then to rinse I open the faucet slightly, so the column doesn't turn on. The flow is small, but not a tiny trickle.

So, I already know that the hot water stays on for about 30 seconds to a minute at most. With the aerator, I immediately noticed that the water stays hot for over a minute to 3 minutes. And after I turn on the gas column, it takes longer to heat up. In fact, without the aerator, the hot water flows through in 15 seconds, with the aerator in 30.

That's basically the main indicator for me that the water is indeed being mixed with oxygen, which means the water usage is lower.

In shower mode, I also noticed that the streams have a massaging effect, which I used to have with a massaging attachment in my shower, and I can tell it's the same. You're washing dishes and giving yourself a massage at the same time, and it's great for circulation.

💖 General Opinion:

I'm really sorry I couldn't install the aerator in the bathtub! I love taking showers, but I always have to be careful not to stay in the shower for more than 5 minutes. I've gotten used to turning the faucet to the minimum, but it would be nice to sometimes splash around a bit longer. And when it comes to water usage, I think it's more significant in the shower.

But it's great on the kitchen sink. The key is to prepare correctly and understand the modes. What I mean is that this device has become a part of our lives, and we've gotten used to it.

In our case, we pay a fixed rate, and the aerator isn't a magic solution to all water expenses, but it's a realistic first step.

➕ I've got to give it up for the cool 'shower' mode and the flexible head, plus the fact that the water stays hotter for longer when you're not using gas.

➖ As for the downsides, I'd say the only real issue is the hassle of getting the nozzle into the shower position. I've just left it like that because I'm not sure if I could get it back without messing it up.

Still, my rating's a solid 5 stars and I'd definitely recommend it.

Thanks for sticking with me till the end!