In searching for sinks and faucets, I found that it was nearly impossible to line up the water stream with the drains, espcially since many sinks these days have offset drains. I'm wondering if the written advice circulating out there is outdated ...? My drain is to the rear of the sink and finding a faucet that lined up with the drain would mean that my water would be coming out at the rear edge of the sink ... not practical. The water stream from my faucet hits in the center of the sink, not into the drain, and there is no splashing. You may have more or less splashing depending on the height of your faucet and the depth of your sink. But do yourself a favor and don't get bogged down by that water-into-the-drain "requirement."

This post was edited by jellytoast on Fri, Apr 26, 13 at 13:25

My philosophy on this differs slightly after reading an article on faucets. I always thought they should squirt directly down the drain but the article said the cause of splash is uneven surfaces - so when the stream hits the disposer flanges - it splashes - Ours is lined up over the drain but lands about 2-3 inches in front of it - the drain is to the right side (Cascade Silgranit)
My only regret was not getting the taller faucet that would come out 2 inches further.

Is yours a Bianco Diamond Super Single with an offset drain like this one?
{{!gwi}}

You may have be able to have both. The distance from the faucet hole to the center of the drain is about 12". The reach of many high-arc faucets is about 10". Plus, water doesn't usually come straight down from the faucet, but is often angled a bit. Thus, if you put your faucet in the center of the sink, and rotate your faucet towards your drain, the will probably go into the drain.

If you have a double sink your faucet can't line up with both drains. Millions of people have double sinks...

I have a rectangular stainless steel sink with offset drain to the right. My faucet is installed in the center. I would not want a faucet not to be centered with a rectangular sink, as it would look "off". You mentioned the window - my sink is not in front of a window, but if it was, I would still center the faucet over the sink, i.e. its functional center, than trying to center the faucet with the window, which may or may not look awry depending upon where you are in the kitchen. It's so easy just to center it over the sink.

If I want my faucet to be directly over the drain, I swivel it to the right and it is directly over the drain. I typically do that when I am running the disposal. Note that I have a pull-out faucet, not a pull-down. My faucet is a Grohe, with a faucet reach of 10-3/8". Most of the time when I am running the water I do not have the faucet directly over the drain, and I do not have splashing. Pull-out faucets tend to splash less than pull-down faucets, so if splashing is a big concern, I would choose a faucet that is a pull-out.

I have a large Kohler Whitehaven and an Herbeau Flamande. The sink is centered on the window and I am thinking of centering the faucet on the sink. I want to hear what distance is ideal between the faucet and handsprayer on a 35" sink.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread--I posted thinking it was mine on a similar topic.

Thanks everyone for the great advice! I will put it in the center and turn it when I run the disposal.

No worries 3apples---I have been reading your posts too as I wonder how far away to put my soap dispenser;)

My pulldown faucet (love, love the pulldown vs pullout) is not centered over my drain either. I do not get splashing unless I hold an item at the wrong angle under the water stream while on high. When I run my GD, I purposely aim the water just to one side of the disposal, not directly at it. The water has a tendency to hit the GD flange if aimed directly and bounce away from the drain instead of going down the drain. Positioned to one side, more water goes down the drain to aid in GD grinding.