rom the point of view of the mechanics involved, a fau­cet is nothing more than a valve that controls and directs the flow of water through a tube. The main components are the valve itself, a body to contain the valve, a handle to turn the valve, and a spout through which the water flows.

The sole function of the valve is to control the water passing through the faucet. It turns the water on and off and limits the amount of water flow china motion sensor bathroom faucet factories which can range from a trickle to a deluge.

It sounds rather simple in the abstract, but it took most of human history to invent a valve that controls water effectively and is reliable and durable enough for use in a household faucet. In fact, the faucet valve has been around for just 150 years.

To put that in perspective, my grandmother late in her life had a working faucet in her kitchen but her mother never saw one and hauled water to her kitchen in buckets. If you have ever had to haul water in buckets, then you know how much easier the faucet valve has made our lives.

The valve is the most critical part of the modern faucet. If the finish flakes or peels, your faucet may no longer be pretty but it still works — it's still a faucet. But, if the valve fails, the faucet stops being a faucet. It cannot perform its essential function: delivering measured amounts of water. The faucet valve, therefore, should always be the best valve you can afford, and valve reliability should be the most single important consideration when buying a faucet.

A valve consists of two parts. The moving part or "stem", attached to a handle and the fixed part or "seat". china touchless bathroom faucet manufacturersTo shut off water flow, the moving part is pressed against the fixed part until the water stops.

The valve stem moved up and down inside the body of the faucet itself in early faucets just as shown in the illustration above. The modern valve, however, is usually built into a removable carrier called a cartridge which is inserted into the body of the faucet. Any wear on the valve takes place inside the cartridge, not inside the body of the faucet. If the valve fails, the cartridge can easily be replaced, restoring function to the faucet. Before removable cartridges, the faucet body would have needed to be re-machined or the whole faucet replaced.

Early faucets delivered hot and cold water separately — one faucet for hot, the other for cold. Temperature mixing occurred outside the faucet in the sink or tub.

"Washerless" valves from Moen and Delta were a giant step forward in the 1960s. These valves still needed to compress rubber seals to shut off the water but the new design eliminated the twisting motion that wore out rubber seat washers so quickly. china motion sensor bathroom faucet suppiers The rubber or silicone seals in washerless valves could last five years or even longer as the technology improved.

The newest technology, ceramic disc valves take this a step further by eliminating all friction on the rubber or silicone seals that causes the seals to wear out over time. Water flow is controlled by nearly indestructible ceramic discs, not silicon or rubber seals.