Faucets Going Green
The States of California and Vermont have passed new lead level laws for plumbing fixtures going into effect on January 1, 2010. The new laws require less than 0.25 percent lead in wetted surfaces of pipes, pipe fittings, plumbing fittings and fixtures, as determined by a weighted average.
Historically, American Standard faucets have used less lead than many of their competitors, thanks to their investment in a low-lead manufacturing technology more than 25 years ago. Now American Standard’s new alloy formulation reduces the amount of lead even further by replacing lead with bismuth. This means you still get the same high-quality faucets and mere trace amounts of lead. In fact, their new faucets have less than one quarter of one percent (0.25%) total lead content by weighted average!
Metal vs. Plastic
According to Dave Meisner, vice president and general manager of American Standard, American Standard product engineers chose to modify the metal composition of its brass alloy, rather than turn to plastic components, to preserve the historic integrity and quality of its faucets. “For more than a century, homeowners have chosen American Standard faucets for a style that works better,” said Meisner, who credits the Company’s commitment to brass casting technology, a more expensive, but superior manufacturing process. “Where other manufacturers substitute plastic for metal, American Standard has always relied on the durability and dependable operation that metal provides the faucet structure.
He noted four key advantages that brass waterways offer over plastic in faucet construction:
- Brass is more durable than plastic.
- Unlike plastic, brass waterways are significantly less sensitive to high temperatures or temperature fluctuations, which can cause the faucet to fail and result in water damage to a home.
- Brass waterways are less vulnerable to cracking in the event that pipes become frozen, and thereby offer homeowners a more reliable product.
- Brass is more resistant than plastic to chemicals in drinking water.
American Standard appears to be setting the stage for greener home products and hopefully more companies will folow suite behind them. I also applaud American Standard for not taking the cheap way out and simply turning to cheaper plastic parts but instead keeping the quality of the faucets by using the brass.