Hot/cold outdoor faucet?

[Chris L]

Does anyone have any good hot/cold outdoor faucet solutions they'd like to share?

I'm currently waffling between a Woodford 22 or C22 and a service sink faucet like this.

Use case is watering plants, washing dogs, and water for the kids.

I had a single-handle Moen hot/cold outdoor faucet in my last house and while it was finicky (and they discontinued it), I LOVED having warm water outside. Woodford seems like the best option in the typical frost-free hose bib space but when I called them about lead content, they were really crabby about it, giving me a spiel about how they legally aren't required to reduce the lead in their products, etc. So, because the lead content is unknown and their customer service sucks, I'm considering a service sink faucet, since there are several that are "lead free" (content under 0.25%), which, since the kids will be bathing and inevitably drinking it, is preferable.

Thanks!

 

[Terry]

The Woodford is frost free, the service faucet is not. If you opt for the service faucet, you will need shutoffs for Winter.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Chris L]

The Woodford is frost free, the service faucet is not. If you opt for the service faucet, you will need shutoffs for Winter.

Yep - I'll be putting a ball valve with integral drain on the inside lines with whichever faucet I go with.

 

[Jadnashua]

Lead tends to only be a problem with first use after having sat in the pipes for awhile. Using the water flushes out any that might have leached out. Even then, unless it was your primary source of drinking water, it wouldn't be a problem. Your house, your choice. IMHO, not an issue. I think that you'd end up with more potentially nasty chemicals in the water from your hose...most of them are not designed for potable water.

 

[jrbe]

I'm in the same boat. Trying to find an outdoor hot and cold faucet / hydrant / silcock that's lead free. I have reverse osmosis water in my house (uranium in my well water.) Lead in any fixture shows up surprisingly high in water tests. RO water is very reactive and pulls the lead out. My water shows under 5 ppm on the tds meter I have in the system. I replumbed my house with PEX and John guest pp fittings behind access panels after the leaded solder in all the old copper fittings was leaching out and showing very high in tests.
I'm also trying to find a good lead free shower mixing valve with flow control. Same reactive water issue. I've been looking for both for a few years and haven't found any yet. Anyone know any decent options?

 

[Reach4]

I'm in the same boat. Trying to find an outdoor hot and cold faucet / hydrant / silcock that's lead free. I have reverse osmosis water in my house (uranium in my well water.) Lead in any fixture shows up surprisingly high in water tests. RO water is very reactive and pulls the lead out. My water shows under 5 ppm on the tds meter I have in the system. I replumbed my house with PEX and John guest pp fittings behind access panels after the leaded solder in all the old copper fittings was leaching out and showing very high in tests.

You are not planning to run RO water outside, are you? Guess so.

You could treat RO water to be not corrosive. I don't know the best way. Running through calcite sounds like overkill.

 

[jrbe]

You are not planning to run RO water outside, are you? Guess so.

You could treat RO water to be not corrosive. I don't know the best way. Running through calcite sounds like overkill.

I am. I tried treating the water to be less reactive, my family and I didn't like it. It's sad to have pure water then add stuff to it really because the industry can't get the lead out.
Watering vegetable gardens and kids playing in the uranium laced well water is not desirable. I get the flush it and you'll be fine thinking but I can't guarantee my family will remember that every time.
On the other hand, washing cars with ro water is nice, rises clean and leaves no water spots. The plants are fine with ro water and I feel much better about my family using the right faucet (if we had RO and well outdoor faucets) not flushing out the hose first, etc.
Hot and cold outdoor ro faucet is for washing cars and dog's. It will get used to water gardens and play in as well. Having fixtures with lead means it can leach back into the rest of the water supply. I don't want to trade one poison for another.
My ro system is 75-80% efficient. I'm not losing much water getting the uranium out. Also using silver h2o2 at 8ppm and uv to keep the water clean instead of chlorine. The US hasn't really caught up there yet.