Installing Aerators on Your Faucets
 Installing water-saving aerators on your faucets is incredibly easy even for the home-repair challenged. You can save around 25 to 40 percent on the hot and cold water running out of each faucet you aerate.
FYI: aerators restrict the flow of water, compressing it into a higher-pressure discharge than regular faucets. They also introduce air bubbles into the water, making it feel like there is a larger water flow. They reduce water flow by about 50 percent or more.
There are two different basic types of aerators: ones that push onto the spout and ones that screw onto the faucet.
The first type have a rubber hose section on the end which pushes onto the spout. First, remove the filter or screen from the faucet. Next, run some liquid dish soap or other lubricant on the inside of the rubber lips of the aerator. Then just push the lips over the end of the faucet. Simple, huh?
The second type is also simple, but you have to figure out whether your faucet is an innie or an outie. Unscrew the filter or screen from the faucet. Check whether screw threads are on the outside or the inside of the faucet. If the faucet has exterior threads, go buy an aerator with threads on the inside; if the faucet's threads are on the inside, get an aerator with threads on the outside. You can cheat and buy an aerator which comes with a dual threaded adapter so it can be screwed onto either type of faucet.
If the pieces of the aerator are loose in the package and there are no instructions, put the pieces in this order: the washer rests on top of the flow restrictor (the disk with holes in it which is placed concave in relation to the water flow), which rests in the screen which fits in the part that you see from the outside. It's easier than it sounds.
Periodically clean out the screen and flow restrictor in your aerator. The more gunk in your pipes, the more often you will need to clean the aerator. Try a toothpick on the stubborn grit in the flow restrictor.
Aerators are one of those things your water department may be giving away to get its customers to conserve water. So not only are aerators easy to install, they may be free, too. It's a great country.
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