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Water Education
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Air Gap Faucets

 

An "Air Gap Faucet" is an anti-siphoning device that is installed within the body of your Reverse Osmosis faucet. The primary purpose for the air gap is to prevent the backflow of gray water. Gray water is water that is considered to be waste water. The air gap prevents the gray water from re-entering your fresh water supply. All air gap faucets are vented so that if a back-up in the drain line to the P-Trap occurs, the overflow will spill out on the rim of, and run into, the sink.

In today's modern kitchens, there is a growing trend in install what are called under-mount sinks. These sinks, along with one-piece counter top and sink combinations, do not have the traditional rim around the top edge of the sink.

IMPORTANT! An air gap faucet should never be installed on a sink top or counter top where there is no natural way to guide overflow water down into the sink.

If there is no alternative to installing the air gap faucet provided with the R.O. system, the installer should install a separate, code approved air gap somewhere in the system. The importance of this is extremely high.

Alternative air gaps that meet local codes are produced by companies like Air Gap International.

As more plumbers and do-it-yourselfers install Reverse Osmosis systems in today's modern kitchens, there are more opportunities for improper or incorrect installations of air gap faucets. If you are unsure if your faucet was installed properly review your manual.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact one of our water quality specialists at 1-800-752-5582, or check us out online at www.wattspremier.com.




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