As a result of the droughts experienced recently due to climate change, water resources have decreased significantly. While solutions are being sought for water saving, aerators attached to taps provide savings of up to 50 percent. These devices, which are sold for around 50 TL on average, are also being sold automatically in fountains recently. However, not every aerator provides savings, and experts in the field point out that most of the savings on the market are made of poor quality materials and say that it is necessary to consult an expert. In the Hardware Market in Eminönü, most tap vendors have aerators. There are also quite a few tradesmen who do not know the word aerator.
IT’S QUITE SIMPLE TO FIT
Sellers say that these products are generally preferred for mosque fountains. Thanks to the aerators that citizens have recently started to buy, water bills are being reduced by half. Not every aerator can provide this effect, it is also important that its holes are thin and can be exposed to intense water pressure. The water pressure can be adjusted with varieties such as fine-hole, pressurized, and intense function. These products, which can also be attached to shower heads, are quite simple to install.
SLOW AND EFFICIENT
Salih Altunışık, who has been a taxi driver in Istanbul for nearly 30 years, has distributed nearly 7 thousand aerators to citizens free of charge from his own pocket. We meet Altunışık, who has dedicated his life to distributing aerators, at the fountain of a mosque. Here, a fountain without an aerator fills a demijohn in an average of 10 seconds, while a fountain with an aerator fills it in an average of 20 seconds. Altunışık explained how water saving is achieved by filling the tank slowly and said that he expects support from the authorities.
AS MUCH AS A FOOTBALL PLAYER COST
Altunışık, who also made an interesting calculation about aerators, stated that the cost of distributing two of these devices to every home in Turkey free of charge is approximately 500 million TL, or 16 million euros, and said, “This is the money a football player earns in a year. If this is implemented in every institution, both Turkey and the citizens will profit.” Altunışık also wrote informative notes on the back of his taxi, He does not neglect to distribute aerators to his wife, friends and guests wherever he goes. Altunışık adds that he expects support for his projects.
SCHOOL, MOSQUE EVERYWHERE
Noting that he discovered the aerator one day when he went to buy LED lamps to make the lights in mosques more economical, Altunışık said, “I installed these devices in schools and mosques. I looked for support but couldn’t find any. One day, I received a plaque after it was featured on TV. These are very beneficial and therefore their use should be made mandatory.”
NEIGHBORHOOD SHOPKEEPERS ALSO HAD IT INSTALLED
We go to the shop of Altunışık, who has most of the shopkeepers in the neighborhood use aerators, and Süleyman Bey, who is the neighborhood barber. Süleyman Bey, who explains that he has saved 80 percent thanks to this, says, “My water bill used to be It was 500 TL, now it is 250 TL, the figures have dropped by half.” He uses the expressions.
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