A kitchen faucet is something that you use a lot, right? So when it’s running slow, it can be a real pain in the patootie. There you are, wanting a cup of tea, and it takes forever get enough water in the teapot. I mean, you have time to take a nap.
It may be irritating to me, but poor Charlie sees that slow running faucet as his own personal failure as a husband. He’ll take this annoyance for so long, then it reaches a tipping point, and off he goes to Petey’s Plumbing with the problem piece. That’s the end of the faucet that you can screw off and it has a little screen thingy inside. This leaves our faucet without that part for the duration of his trip. This is usually on a Saturday, a day where I’m cleaning and doing stuff around the house. So every time I turn on the faucet, water gushes out unencumbered and splashes all over me. The first time this happens, I get mad at Charlie. The second, third, fourth time, I get mad at myself.
Anyhoo, Charlie’s gone to Petey’s a few times now with this problem. Each time he leaves with a new aerator, which is what the thingy is called. It works good for a little while than by the end of month three, it needs replacing again. Petey claims the culprit is calcium build up.
“Calcium Chloride,” he explains, “is what’s used by the town to bring the water up to drinking quality. When super-heated, it turns to a solid, leaving deposits on cookware and faucets. You could try boiling the aerator, then back flushing.”
Charlie tried that and it didn’t do much. He also tried brushing the aerator with an old toothbrush, and had similar results.
Last week, Charlie went back and reported to Petey that both those methods were a no go, and he was back to square one.
“Odd,” Petey said, “I don’t think I’ve replaced our kitchen aerator in twenty years.”
So, Petey sold Charlie an “old school” one with bigger flow holes, to see if that makes a difference.
“Back in the day,” he told Charlie, “pot heads used to come in and buy these for the little filter screen. Perfect size for pipes.”
“I think I’ll stick with the faucet,” Charlie replies. “Hey, on the off chance, do you have any brushes to clean my clogged up aerators? I still have them and hate to see them go to waste.”
“Nope, don’t have anything like that; something that would get inside those tiny holes.”
“What would you use?” Charlie asks.
Petey pauses. “Well, I’d get myself a real sharp needle and a six pack of beer and call it a night!”
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!
Hear Ida Tell It: Kitchen Faucet Dilemma
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