Working in the kitchen can get pretty messy at times. This means dirty hands that need washing. Touching the faucet to turn on the water to clean those dirty hands means the faucet ends up getting dirty and any bacteria on the hands is transferred to the faucet knob. Wouldn’t it be nice if the faucet worked like your ‘touch’ lamp?
Delta thinks this is a great idea and has produced the new and innovative Delta Touch Touch20 Faucet. The Touch20 faucet acts like the touch lamp with a simple touch that turns the water on and then another touch that turns the water off. Now, when hands are dirty or soapy, all that is needed to turn on the faucet is a brief touch of the hand, forearm, wrist or even nose.
What are the features of the Touch20 faucet?
The Delta Touch20 faucet takes any kitchen to a higher comfort level especially for the avid cook or baker. The technology includes smart features knowing when you are simply moving the faucet position or cleaning the faucet from when you actually want the water turned on or off. Touching the handle or faucet control lever for less than one second is the signal that the water should be on or off. Touching the handle or faucet control longer tells the unit that you are adjusting the faucet or cleaning it.
The mechanics of the Touch20 faucet:
The unit is high quality producing a good water flow, built-in retractable sprayer and an optional soap dispenser. The design is sleek and modern and will fit most any existing sink. The standard requirement for installing this faucet is two holes but if there is a third hole it can easily be covered with a cover plate or used for the optional soap dispenser that is included with the unit.
Under the sink there needs to be a ground wire optimally that feeds into an outlet with a built-in ground. The unit also operates on by using size ‘C’ batteries that are incased in a battery pack and installed under the sink. The housing of the faucet holds the touch sensor and a solenoid valve is located between the faucet and the plumbing. The valve, touch sensor and batteries operate the touch features of the faucet.
The simple installation should take between one and two hours depending on how familiar the installer is with plumbing and the age of the faucet assembly that needs to be removed. Old plumbing can be stubborn and create problems for any type of new installation.
To help with the installation of the new Touch20 unit, it does come with large fold-out directions plus there are videos by Delta that show the installation procedure. The water lines are color coded to take any guesswork out of the hot or cold lines to water. There is also no need for “Teflon plumber’s tape” because of the compression connections. To protect stainless steel sinks there is a stabilizer block.
Comfort Benefits of the Touch20 faucet:
Along with the simple touch on and off feature, the water will automatically turn off if left unattended for too long. With this feature should a child turn on the faucet and forget to turn it off there is no worry about flooding the floor from water being left turned on.
Another good feature is the faucet can be set for flow and temperature that will be convenient for most uses. This way if a child does turn on the faucet it will not be scalding water. To change the flow and temperature it is a simple adjustment using the lever.
The spray nozzle can be used either in a regular flow or a more extreme flow for power-cleaning. To use the spray feature the head has to be manually pulled away from the faucet otherwise it does remain stable. The nozzle head will extend about eighteen inches from the faucet holder.
The soap dispenser that comes with the unit has a fairly large holder but does need to be refilled underneath the sink. The on/off touch feature for the water may accidentally turn on when cleaning the base but this is not a common occurrence.
The cost:
The cost is comparable with other high quality faucet assemblies and averages between $300 and $500 at the present time.
PROS: on/off touch, cleanliness and sanitation, easy DYI install
CONS: can accidentally turn on, needs batteries
MORE INFO: www.deltafaucet.com
