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ontariomom

Anyone put two faucets on one sink to provide drinking water?

ontariomom
9 years ago

Hi everyone,

In our city most people including us have a water softener as the water is very hard. The non softened water is great tasting, but the softened water does not quench your thirst at all (tastes bad). Ideally, I would like to run both softened cold and untreated cold/hot up to our ensuite upstairs so we can get a drink of water upstairs without having to go down to the kitchen. Our house is currently down to studs so running the lines is so real big deal (plus DH is doing the plumbing rough-in so no labour costs either - just materials). I can see two options worth considering::

a)Run untreated cold water/treated hot to the bath sink and allow the sink and faucet to accept the increased wear and tear from untreated cold water.

b)Run both untreated cold and treated cold (plus treated hot) to the sink and have two faucets.

I would be tempted to do option b), but can't say I have seen a sink with two faucets? Is this done at all? Any suggestions as to how to make it look okay? Or is plan a) the best option.

Carol

Comments (12)

  • sloyder
    9 years ago

    They do have those filtered water faucets which are not that big. Never seen them used in a bathroom.

  • ontariomom
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks sloyd for that good idea. Do you happen to know who makes that faucet? I assume I can just use it with our untreated tap water (doesn't need to be used with a water filter system). Is this correct?

    If I do put in two faucets in the sink, do I put the main one (hot/cold) at 12:00 on the sink and put the drinking water faucet at say 9:00?

    Carol

  • enduring
    9 years ago

    Years ago when we were still on the well we had a faucet similar to Sloyds example that carried untreated well water. It was mounted next to the regular faucet that carried the softened well water. We had this in our kitchen but I think it makes a lot of sense in a bathroom too.

  • Babka NorCal 9b
    9 years ago

    If you have such hard water, why not put a simple cartridge water filter under the bathroom sink to get the hard water flavors out? I don't like the taste of softened water either, but I do like the filtered water we have in our kitchen. There are many spigots to choose from. Select one that looks good with the rest of fixtures.

    -Babka

  • MongoCT
    9 years ago

    Do a search for "beverage faucet" and you'll get a slew of hits. Quite a few manufacturers make them. They coordinate them with the faucets in their regular lines. Even though you're looking to put it in a bathroom you should be able to find something close.

    They usually offer accessories like chillers, filters, or instant heaters for tea, etc.

  • ontariomom
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    enduring, Babka and mongoct,

    Sorry to be slow to respond to your helpful comments. Thanks for your posts. We will look for those beverage faucets to carry drinking water to go alongside the regular bathroom sink faucet

    Does everyone think it would look best to have the small beverage faucet (with untreated drinking water) go right beside the centered main faucet?

    Carol

  • Errant_gw
    9 years ago

    Is there another area in your room that you could use to setup a small beverage area? I would rather have that than two faucets on the vanity.

    [Traditional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by Castle Rock General Contractors Stone Aspen Signature Builders

  • micasasucasa
    9 years ago

    Like Errant's picture above, we did something like this as well. Happens we only wanted cold water since it's a "beverage" station if you will. So we went with a touchless faucet. You basically have to choose your temperature. That is the downside, unless it is for drinking only. Then it is perfect! On a budget at the time and went with a Freuer. I would go do it differently now as it kinda looks like one you would use in a bathroom. Still touch free, just more appropriate for a bar area.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Best Touchless

  • ontariomom
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    micasasucasa,

    That is a great idea! It will reduce the visual clutter.

    Carol

  • scpalmetto
    9 years ago

    You could also look at RO (reverse osmosis) faucets, they could be adapted to work on any supply line if necessary and they are slim, similar to the beverage faucet shown above. I have seen them used in the kitchen beside the regular faucet and do not think they look cluttered at all.

  • ubiquityman
    9 years ago

    I would recommend you do the plumbing in PEX so that you can upgrade to RO in the future. RO water will deterioriate copper pipes.

    I don't mind the tast of softened water, but I avoid it because of the high sodium content.

    If you want an RO system, you need to plumb the softened water to the RO unit. (hard water will clog the membrane very quickly).

  • ontariomom
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Scpailmetto,

    I will check into those small faucets sold for RO applications but investigate running an untreated water line to that faucet. Thanks!

    ubiquityman,

    Thanks for your input. We won't be getting a RO system. Our untreated water tastes great (one of the bottled water companies even uses our ground water for their product). We just want to run an untreated water line upstairs to have drinking water on the second floor.

    I do have a bit of a related question. Do we run softened or unsoftened water lines to our freezer and fridge. I assume the water is to make ice cubes and would not want bad tasting ice. On the other hand, I don't want to wear down the freezer line prematurely due to hard water?

    Carol