Recently I turned on my kitchen sink tap and was met by an erratic trickle of water from the tap. Fortunately I consulted the Internet before calling a plumber and saved myself a lot of money. It turned out the aerator - basically a wire screen or plastic bit with holes in it, depending on the tap - was gunked up and needed replacing. I was able to unscrew the end of the kitchen sink faucet with a pair of pliers – one of the few tools I have successfully mastered - and bought a replacement aerator at the local hardware store. This taxed the limit of my meager handyman skills but I came through it alive and richer for the experience. Total cost? Less than five dollars, about what the plumber would have charged to take the cell phone out of his pocket, never mind actually answering it.

After patting myself on the back I got to wondering just what the purpose of the aerator was. By definition it adds air to the water but why? It’s not like Rutland Waterworks is piping Perrier through my taps.

Turns out aerators can reduce your water usage by anywhere from13% to 50%. Those air bubbles makes the stream of water coming from your tap feel like it has more volume than it actually does. In other words, it reduces the flow of water from your tap without reducing the water pressure. Some water utility companies will hand out aerators for free because the savings in water usage more than pays for them.

Aerators actually serve a few handy purposes. They help your dish soap foam up. The air bubbles get trapped in the soapy water and help form suds. If your tap water has a sulphurous odor to it an aerator can reduce that rotten-egg smell by essentially letting the sulfur attach itself to air bubbles and escape.

An aerator also softens the stream of water and reduces splashing. I can attest to this because I made the mistake of turning my kitchen tap on after I had removed the clogged aerator and gave myself a bit of a shower in the process from the backsplash from the sink.

There’s also a type of aerator called a Laminar flow aerator that actually does the opposite – it ensures that the water flow is solid and has no air trapped in it. This type of aeration is used in hospitals to prevent airborne bacteria from entering the water. This is the type of tap you see Dr. McDreamy washing his hands under before performing surgery and then bedding a co-star.

If you have any taps in your home that don’t have aerators on them you should pony up the few bucks and grab the pliers. What else can save you water, help you wash your dishes and keep your water odor-free and be installed by almost anyone quickly and cheaply? Who knew that little thing could do so much?