What are the chief advantages?
Improved sanitation is the most obvious benefit of touch-free fixtures. With no handles, there is no means of spreading dirt or harmful bacteria from one user to the next. Hands-free operation also makes the faucets usable by virtually anyone, regardless of age or physical ability. “These fixtures are good options for universal design,” says Mary Jo Petersen, a Connecticut-based certified kitchen and bath designer who specializes in this approach to making spaces more accessible by people of all ages, sizes and abilities. “I ve been waiting a long time for such products to be introduced for residential use. They are wonderful for anyone who might have trouble reaching or turning the handles on a faucet,” she says. Many of these fixtures are ADA-compliant. (For more information, click here.) Another plus is water conservation. Sensor-activated faucets eliminate wasted water flow by discharging only what the user needs. Most turn off automatically within 10 to 60 seconds, and some models
