Keeping readers abreast of new developments in plumbing materials, products, tools and practices.
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Howdy; A recent incident involving the source of yours truly’s drinking water “pulled the cushions out from under him”. That action tripped the author’s ‘Spontaneous Writing Alarm’ (and in the interest of Damage Control), he haaaaad to get off the couch, and explain. Thus, this In The Pipe. Something New Seeing ‘Burgundy’ issuing out my kitchen sink faucet lately got me thinking about something the author has long been wishing he’d gotten up the gumption (years ago) and shared with his Readers: (Photos 1, & 1b.) Of course this also has to do with water (regardless of color), water that will improve your attitude about kitchen sink chores without the aid of fermentation. Is your patience quotient ‘topped off’? Well, shall we jump in?
Who Do Y o u T r u s t ? Samuel will probably writhe in his grave if he gets wind of my near-full plagiarism: “Water, water, everywhere, nor a drop safe to drink”. Excuse me readers, but it’s gotten to where the ‘water-service-subscribed’ portion of the lower 48 States, today, have reason to at least ‘think about’ what might be (surprisingly or unsurprisingly) found in their supposedly potable, paid-for water supplies. Between Industry, Military, and Agriculture, almost anything (“shady”) involving water supplies can be a “no surprise” anywhere you live, now it seems, via media. Re: “The Dirty Secret of Government Drinking water Standards”. www.ewg.org/tapwater/state-of-american-drinking-water.php “Where there’s smoke, there’s …”? Those who fortunately/unfortunately live on private wells and are responsible for their own safety, have an advantage over “subscribers” when it comes to answering the question of “what’s in my water?”. County-funded testing of well supplies is very common. Conversely, for a “subscriber” to ‘find out’ it costs hundreds of dollars. (More on this downstream). What got Pete the Plumber thinking about this water quality issue was an incident recently occurring with his own water supplier. One day not long ago the once-weekly major print & digital voice in the County devoted color for their front page. (Always a heads-up). “Purple Water Everywhere!” It was a scandal. Complaints to the Paper of Note poured in from every compass point in their service district. Subscribers’ color photos could not be dismissed. (The color reminded Pete of an ‘ancient’ $$$$ Bordeaux.) The big fright, was on however. Readers and subsequently the public were demanding the Water District ‘fess-up’ and answer all concerns. Of course the end result was that scientific testing of the water proved it was still safe to drink. The cause was a high concentration of a particular mineral safe at those concentrations. Even though that reassuring information defused the safety issues, the color of, still, was a big “bother.” (This reminded yours truly of a similar situation occurring in the 80’s, in a Central California “development” near my then home. It was the same complaint: color of the water. In this earlier case the color bright blue was the Devil.) Now, recently, my own supplier was crying foul: “Sorry for the color but it’s “safe to drink”. The cause, again, was harmless, excessive minerals. Lucky for everyone. (We’re taking them at their word.) This 1980’s Central California development not far from me, mentioned above, then, comprised hundreds of homes which were plumbed in copper. ‘Plumbers in a hurry’ (tract/development) like to save time wherever they can. Cleaning copper pipe and fittings prior to soldering them together is a case in point. The raw-er (cleaner) the inside of the fitting and the outside of the copper pipe the better the solder will flow and make a water tight joint. Even on brand new pipe and fittings (all shines) the “learned” plumber gives a fitting a cursory inside brushing (with a fitting brush (Photo 2) and scratch-“polish” the end of the pipe to be inserted. “Sandcloth” (Photos 3 & 4) available in boxed rolls are available to the plumber for this task.
*The author has addressed all of this in his book: The PEX Edition of Plumbing A House This cleaning procedure being discussed is even more important on copper pipe and fittings that have been in storage from months to years. The darker colored material requires more time to get it properly ready to assemble. But, what if you could buy a copper pipe plumbing flux (brush-on combination solder ‘flow-agent’ plus acids, to clean the pipe and fitting) so potent that you no longer had to use a wire fitting brush or sand cloth?) At the time there was marketed a flux that was so aggressive that plumbers in a real hurry (or lazy?) used in an attempt to get the job done ‘quicker’. When a plumber has completed a water system for a structure, he/she (or any combination) plugs off all water outlets, both hot and cold, and charges (fills) the system to a designated pressure. Then the plumber goes around looking for possible leaks. If no leaks materialize after a proscribed length of test time, the plumber can then look to performing other needed plumbing feats. However, the longer the newly created copper water system remains unused and not flushed out, residual acids in solder fluxes continue to do their job and eat away at the copper. The super strong lazy plumber’s flux, if not flushed very quickly would turn the inside pipe walls (and wherever that flux was used on a connection, on the outside) blue. The Benefits of “Singular” If a plumber was plumbing a single structure, served by its own water source, and sharing time and space with other construction trades on the job (cooperation), (“Pete the Plumber Goes to work”), the plumber might find himself back on this particular address and installing fixtures and valves in maybe six to eight weeks. On this latter, finish cycle of the job, with sinks and tubs and showers in place, the plumber can flush the entire system, through every valve (including hose bibs) and rid the system of the residue flux (+ other “line trash”) and standing water. However, if the plumber/s is/are ‘in a hurry’ (tract/development) they may be completing water systems for weeks and weeks and weeks before the systems are thoroughly (at all fixture locations) flushed. This was the case of the ‘blue water’ development near my then home. Many structures were completed before being flushed and, this project employed plumbers in a hurry who of course used the super strong soldering flux. The acid had a long time to act on the copper and new homeowners started out brushing their teeth with water the hue of commercial mouthwash. Now again in the case of the author’s present residence, his ‘subscribed’ purple water proved a mineral in a too great of concentrations for the volume of the reservoir (rumored partly due to fire retardants aerially dropped on forests within the watershed). The water supplier did have ‘adequate’ technical ability/support to provide safe to drink water. Correcting the color issue though was beyond their capabilities of treatment. In an attempt to compensate, the developer offered homeowners, at no cost, a ‘citrus solution’ back-flushing, in hopes of mitigation. Some homes required multiple flushes. Poor Barry B. *Funny/not so funny: Pete happened to have a friend who lived in the “blue water” development at that time, and Pete listened to his complaints, almost daily. (Barry B. was a sales agent at a wholesale plumbing supply where Pete did 75 percent of his purchasing.) However, purple or blue, in neither case were these ‘subscribers’ considered at risk. Thankfully. The subscribing public rarely gives a thought to the hard working treatment workers who come to work every day to provide and protect our very lives. According to UNICEF: “ More than 1,300 children under the age of five die every day because of diseases caused by unsafe drinking water”……..all in Third World Countries. Something not all dreary though: according to the World Health Organization, as of 2022, “…. 73% of the global population (6 billion people) used a safely managed drinking water service……” Pete would’ve guessed we were not that far along. Now, what would You, the subscribed Reader do if you feared or suspected your tap water was not ‘all that you hoped’? Those who consume vast quantities of drinking-water in bottles, both plastic and glass, in many cases are being fooled: many times their subscribed tap water tests ‘cleaner than’ (when ‘things’ are going right). Those on private wells can get free water analysis. But ‘subscribers “ain’t so lucky.” *A mind teaser: According to Rebecca Eagan McCarthy in her August 6, 2025 Grist article: “Groundwater is drying up, and causing sea level rise”. apple.news/A-hehMZgrT0ijpaNjuY7kiQ We also learn “The United States sources half of its drinking water from groundwater.” This author sees a lot of free testing here. Are subscribers being ‘shortchanged”? Who’s Who? There are many private water testing labs doing business offering a wide range of analysis for many waterborne, organic/inorganic bad guys. Being an old Berkeley-ite the author is familiar with the 4-star folks at UC Berkeley’s Tap Score, a drinking water laboratory. Unfortunately for many of us, the cost of testing services can be a ‘deal breaker’. Federal testing rules for public water suppliers are established by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). This act includes a Public Notice requirement: “Community water systems must also provide an annual Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) to inform customers about their water quality.” Subscribers can contact their water supplier and request a copy of this Federally required report. How readable to the layperson is it? Not as lucid as that of private labs which are answering your specific worries, but it’s still worthy of leaving on the toilet tank lid and peruse over and over. (In most cases it will be reassuring and lower your blood pressure and should cost you nothing or ‘next to nothing’.) “Fine”, you say. “But I don’t know (for sure) who is my water provider, or how to contact them.” Well, Pete the Plumber would like to help you out in that endeavor. He himself just recently stumbled onto a long-in-need, free, quick solution: the EWG. The Environmental Working Group has an electronic data base free to the public, that lists the names of water providers serving areas by zip code, and, what contaminants are/have been showing up in their product. Pete highly recommends his “water subscribing” readers do do diligence by reading and seeing where their respective supplier’s/service’s present and past record of operation stands. Search: “Tap Water Database, STATE OF AMERICAN DRINKING WATER: “Tapped out: America’s drinking water and the health risks hidden behind legal limits”. www.ewg.org/tapwater/?_ga=2.5818867.1741466710.1501056528-502228928.1501056528#.WXhYr4jyuUl Now (finally) A Little Fun After all of the upstream ‘fire and brimstone”, yours truly would now like to look at a more lighthearted direction: having a little fun with your kitchen sink faucet. “What you say.”? Yup. Pete mentioned upstream regretting not championing, in print, one, simple, available plumbing component, the Moen 20200 swivel aerator (Photos 1, 1a, 1b & 1c). Well, he’s now going to try and do his Penance:
Remember the unfortunate, Barry B., of the upstream “blue water” scenario? Well, Pete first used to purchase from Barry B. the Moen 20200 Swivel Aerator for about seventeen dollars and some change. That was in the late ‘70’s through the 80’s. Pete’s labor rate during that time probably went from the $40.00’s to the $60.00’s. He personally found this product, mounted on a single handle faucet, such a pleasure to use that he’d leave one attached to his deserving customer’s faucets, as a ‘Thank You’. Still, after all these years, in Pete the Plumber’s opinion, this humble invention, The Moen 20200 swivel aerator, is one of ‘plumbing’s’ best ever improvements. And, the author, a little bit downstream, in this Pipe is going to show his Readers how easy it is to install on their kitchen sink’s one-piece spout (Photo 5). Before starting that endeavor, however, the author first wants to say a few things (opinions) about 2 other plumbing choices.  Photo 5: Pete’s Delta single handle KS faucet with one-piece spout The first opinion involves Pull On/Down (spout) kitchen sink faucets (Photo 6). He never thought they were a good idea. The second opinion is what he thinks of the lift up and pull out (retractable) deck-mounted, kitchen sink ‘dish-spray’ (nozzle on short hose): (Photos 7, & 7a).
In some quarters these devices are referred to as a ‘side spray’ or ‘deck spray’. Pete the Plumber always thought this latter was born of a good concept, but held back due to the poor choice of poly tubing manufacturers used for the hose. It was too stiff. The operator often had to run ‘full hot’ water through the spray nozzle for minutes to relax it before trying to use it. For repair plumbers this sink spray/side spray’s sink mount (Photo 7) proved a common ‘p.i.t.a.’ location for a splash water leak, into to the cabinet. This is because the stiffness of the hose often loosens the grip/location of the (usual) all-plastic mounting base, allowing for the leak (and subsequent $$$$ cabinet damage). Another shortcoming/dissatisfaction with the typical deck spray/side spray design was the upper spray head ‘supply’ connection (Photo 8).  Photo 8: The encircled parts are composed of top/down: rigid plastic base washer; soft *sealing washer; metal C-clip and last, tiny o-ring for male hose end. This compression joint was composed of 2 all-plastic threaded components; a rigid plastic ‘backing’ washer; a soft rubber sealing washer; a tiny neoprene o-ring; and a tiny, circular metal clip. This mostly all-plastic (less metal C-clip) design was rarely capable of maintaining water tightness. The threaded parts loosen when the soft sealing washer compresses with use. Then we have a leak that often remains undetected for some time. Water can run back down the hose. It drips into the kitchen sink cabinet (and possibly on supplies related to housework) stored in the cabinet. *But/However a small spray head on a very flexible hose is very helpful and especially so when the sink hosts a garbage disposer. When behaving (with due diligence inspections) Pete would say the “side spray” sink-mounted dish-spray offerings were O.K. if the resident was the ‘handy type’ and could keep both connections tight. The Other Not So Good Idea Now, the hose portion of a “retractable” Pull On/Down kitchen sink faucet (Photo 6, above) will or won’t be the cause of its retirement. The homemaker will value the faucet if the head comes out and goes back easily, and if there are no leaks (and the hose proves otherwise trouble free). But again, this plumber finds fault with the hose due to tangling episodes, with itself and with other objects under the sink, like angle stops and faucet supplies, waste piping and dishwasher/garbage disposal issues. On many pull on/down faucet hoses, plumber-adjusted weights (Photo 9) are employed to return the faucet head.  Photo 9: The plumber installed/adjusted hose weight. Photo Credit: Sears These weights can hang up on other under sink components resulting in a faucet head not retracting fully and nesting quickly on spout end. Other designs have tried long, coiled springs. Yours truly isn’t happy with either. Pete the Plumber has a (better) idea. In moments he’ll introduce you what he’s always thought the prudent answer for a clean-of-food-debris kitchen sink: the (Moen) (20200 swivel aerator. (And, best employed on a single handle kitchen sink faucet.) Before jumping into that topic he’d like to say just a few things about kitchen sink faucet aerators in general. Aerators In General In this plumber’s opinion, there’s one company that makes the standard, single function (Photo 10) design of aerator that’s hands down the best. The company is Neoperl.  Photo 10: Pete’s Delta one piece spout hosting a single function aerator. This simple (from the outside) little ‘end piece’ for kitchen, bathroom and bar sink faucets occupies (even subconsciously) more of your feelings about your faucet satisfaction than you realize. The author recommends you take the time to watch My Water. My Design. Link: m.youtube.com/watch?v=ezq4AtGD1SI and discover how much more thought and appreciation you’ll give your slave, the 24/7 kitchen sink faucet aerator (and the job it performs). Good Riddance Mid-way in the author’s plumbing career there happened to be a couple of faucet manufacturers whose product line was a popular one in Pete’s plumbing region. These companies both provided aerators for their faucets that consisted of a series (3 to 4) little, stackable, circular, screen/disks of different mesh sizes and washers. If the repair plumber/resident cleaning them wasn’t mindful of their arrangement, and did not re-arrange them accordingly, the end result was disappointment. With even three not to mention 4 possible combinations, can you guess how long you ‘might be at it’, pending a resilient patience? Since then that archaic type has been discontinued and the modern basic design has been much improved and often made of all plastic, any screen/s included. If the reader wishes to be happier at the kitchen sink with a single function aerator on a traditional single-piece faucet spout, the author recommends they train their search engines on the name: Neoperl. The company has many choices of single function/stream and also dual stream aerators of the highest quality that fit any budget. Swivel Hips What yours truly also appreciates about the Moen 20200 is the higher arc he can send a stream (spray or column) in and around the sink. On a single handle faucet, with a little practice the user can with three fingers go from spray to column and back while the other hand chooses volume and temperature. It almost becomes a tai-chi entrant. The author also appreciates the low profile. Most of the competitors swivel spray’s hang down from the faucet spout so low that when in use we can end up banging pots, large bowls and glassware into it.  Photo 11: Not very visible is the O-ring already in place in the female mounting cup. The conical filter screen/washer (right) goes in next (cone UP) and the smaller diameter threads on the poly adapter, once threaded in place secures the joint. The yellow washer (center) is placed on the TOP, larger half of the poly adapter and threaded into the female threads of the spout end. Now the little adapter (white poly) that comes with the aerator (Photo 11, lower left, above) allows the aerator to be threaded into spouts with internal female fine threads. Some faucet manufacturers tend to choose one or the other (male or female) for spout mounting threads for an entire line and different models. The most common sizes for faucet spouts made in the U.S. are the following: 55/64”-27; 15/16”-27 and 13/16”-27. The first two numbers, with the slash between them is the diameter. The -27 means the threads are 27 per inch. The little white poly threaded adapter that accompanies the Moen swivel aerator is 15/16” and will fit a Moen kitchen sink faucet (or others) (Photos 11a & 11b) with a 15/16” female opening.
The 20200 with a poly adapter is about to be threaded into a 15/16” female threaded opening of a non-Moen faucet.) If your faucet IS other than a Moen there’s a chance you will need a different adapter. Pete purchased an assortment of 11 adapters from a company dba BOSICATS. They have a website: (Photo 12). It included (in plated brass) a ‘twin sister’ to the poly one Moen shipped with the aerator (Photo 12a).
Ah So! Moments In 1957 the author’s father remodeled the kitchen of the family home. Pete was 12 years old. The new kitchen sink faucet had a foreign, “strange” appearance. Pete had never seen anything like it. It happened to be the original Moen single handle design. (Not the cartridge used today). When Pete first operated it he saw immediately, the genius in it. Many years later as a working plumber, when he saw his first Moen 20200 swivel aerator, Pete the Plumber immediately recognized genius. It’s been some years since he has purchased one. I believe I paid around seventeen dollars for the first one and thirty-dollars for the last one, probably in the 1990’s. Just recently my purchase dealings with Amazon Prime sucked fifty-five dollars outta my MC for one. But the author appreciates the quality and function so much that he’s fine with that. And, there will be a ‘payback’ when he replaces the terrible, cheap, all plastic version his partner put on her faucet (Photos 13 & 14) and which Pete has been cursing for the last three years (she preps…Pete cleans). HELLO!!! (Photo 15)…
Until Next Time P.t.P
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Peter Hemp is a San Francisco East Bay residential plumber and plumbing author and former R & D steam vehicle plumber. His hobbies are ocean kayaking and touring the Left Coast by bicycle. Archives
March 2026
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