foot operated sink.

I figure I could use about half (maybe less) the water if it was foot operated.... like some of the water fountains I have seen. I think there are setups for handicap situations too.

Has anyone (off grid with solar water pump for example) who has tried this? I don't know if my savings in hot water alone would pay for it or not.

If they were produced in larger quantities, the savings might pay for it eventually. You would have to do the math for your location and setup. If you rigged something yourself, there might not be a significant cost.

When I worked in a slaughterhouse 15 years ago, we had sinks like that since our hands were often too dirty and slippery to operate the faucet.

They may have been mostly replaced by the ones like the public restrooms use with the motion detectors.

Something like this:   http://www.footfaucet.net/

Here's a few more: http://www.google.com/search?q=foot+operated+water+faucet

Len, could you explain how a foot-operated sink would save water?
I'm assuming that it's to do with not being able to just 'let it run'?

Leila wrote:
Len, could you explain how a foot-operated sink would save water?
I'm assuming that it's to do with not being able to just 'let it run'?

Letting it run because I know I will need it soon, but my hands will be covered with (insert name of offensive stuff here) and I will not be able to turn it on then or off after. Most often in the kitchen, but sometimes bathroom too.

tipafo wrote:
Something like this:   http://www.footfaucet.net/

Here's a few more: http://www.google.com/search?q=foot+operated+water+faucet

$50 to about $400. The $50 one requires a hole in the floor.... and the plumbing to go with it. Our kitchen setup has a pull out centre where I could insert a valve or supply water to. The fancy ones let you control everything by foot.

lhtown wrote:

They may have been mostly replaced by the ones like the public restrooms use with the motion detectors.

I would like to stay away from motion detectors or any solution that uses power. I also find that motion detectors turn the water off at the exact moment I need it on.... like the detector doesn't see anything right where the water falls.

Extensively used in meat processing facilities, kitchens, hospitals, etc. They're out there. Stainless steel no less.

pubwvj wrote:
Extensively used in meat processing facilities, kitchens, hospitals, etc. They're out there. Stainless steel no less.

Ya, I'm finding there is a lot more out there than I thought. A lot of them are more complex than I had imagined too. I had thought setting everything up with the hand controls and then just a valve to turn the water mix off and on. However, in the kitchen we generally use hot or cold... no mix.... so the idea of controlling both hot and cold separately by foot has meaning. The problem with foot control that I see in our house is that it would tend to be all on or off.... even with hand controls it ends up this way.

So what started as a "knee jerk" thought, now requires a lot more thought.

pipe your waste sink water to your toilet tank for flushing.

they make those too.

Hey Len , i was reading your old threads , and this one reminded me to look for this device:instant off
Cheap and easy to install, no power needed, continuous flow an option, but not the default.

Sinks operated by foot-pump are (or used to be, when I was a kid) fairly common on older/lower tech sailboats. You may be able to find parts for them at marine swap meets or elsewhere. Ours pumped out of a 30-gal nonpressurized tank when I was a kid, I imagine it wouldn't work too differently with a much larger cistern.

I saw one of these in a camper once.  Seemed like a marvelous idea for saving water.  

The other place i see foot activated sinks is in hospitals.  But a lot of these are replaced now with motion activated ones. You can still see them at some nurses stations and where surgeons wash up.

Hand washing stations often have simple knee operated ones. A local small chicken processor has one on their hand washing sink. Personally, I would much prefer foot or knee operated over sensor because sensors generally don't like my magnetic resonance and refuse to give me water.

A lot of people installed things like this during Covid.

So far as our sinks, we bought the lever style hot and cold taps, and I can operate them with my lower arm or elbow if I have to.  "Off" is a bit easier than "on". However, the levers are also very smooth unlike some of the taps I've seen. This makes them very easy to clean if they do get mucky.

When I was a kid, my family had a camper with a foot pump sink.  I remember stepping on it repeatedly to keep the water flowing, like it was a direct mechanical effect.  
When I was working in a restaurant kitchen, we had a very nice little stainless steel handwashing sink that had hot and cold pedals that one just steps on and it was automatic water, no foot-pumping.
So if there is a used restaurant supply store in your area, you might find such a thing there.
I think it's hygienically a smart notion.

So at faire we often have these, when one rents "honey buckets"  or any other brand therelike one can rent these too.  Practical and yes may indeed save water.