Faucets are leaking. It is inevitable, like death and taxes.
Traditional faucet sealing with screwed rubber ring
the end of a metal tube. Sooner or later the rubber will
will go hard, split or just wear out and not
longest seal. Then the water is filtered and the tap starts.
drip. If left alone, the problem worsens as the water
wears the valve seat. Then you will have to
Re-polish the valve seat (Own a valve seat grinder?
Who would do it?) Or replace the faucet. Tedious in any case.
But it doesn’t have to happen. Many faucets now use ceramic discs.
Method of operation
Instead of creating a seal by forcing a rubber washer into
at the end of the water supply pipe, they use two ceramic discs
each with matching slots on them. These are carried out on the
end of the water supply pipe. Lower disc does not move
while the upper disc rotates on the lower one by the
touch the head. Water will only flow when the top and bottom
the slots match.
Advantage
There are a number of benefits to this arrangement. The more
obvious is that ceramic discs are much harder than rubber ones
and much more resistant to erosion by water seepage. So
they have a much longer life before needing replacement.
Also, because water flows between the two discs,
the discs do not erode the metal of the valve. Also because
from the way the discs are arranged, the taps continue completely with
just a quarter turn and the tap only needs light pressure
to operate. This light action has the advantage that
are easy to operate with the back of your hand if your hands
They are dirty and for people with restricted movement.
Where they are used
Ease of use and long life mean that most of the
Quality sink mixer taps are made from ceramic discs
for a while, but sink faucets with ceramic discs are
surprisingly less common. The more a touch is used, the more
The use of ceramic disc technology becomes attractive. This
is doubly true in hard water areas, which can be killers in
traditional taps.
Disadvantages
Everything has its downside and ceramic has its drawbacks.
disc taps. They eventually wear out and are more
expensive than old style faucets and not suitable for very
low water pressure. Unusually, many of the manufacturers
seem to use standard sizes, so getting a replacement is
often straightforward. Because sink taps can be
delivered or not, one cannot always be sure which way
turn on each faucet, this can be annoying! Lastly, unlike
traditional style faucets, which take several turns to be
in its entirety, you can easily turn the water flow on much more than
did you mean. The unexpectedly vigorous flow of water and splashing
can make water go everywhere, even above your
clothing. Not well!