In-depth analysis: water pipes, faucets, who is the biggest water disaster

In 2019, the “leaded door” incident in the faucet exposed by the Shanghai TV station caused a huge earthquake in the hardware and bathroom industry. In July, the national faucet qualification rate of the national quality inspection agency was only 60%, and the lead precipitation concentration of some brand faucets exceeded the standard, which involved the series of leading “lead-containing doors” incidents, and various “lead fears” came to consumers. Since then, the “lead” of the faucet has moved the hearts of the people across the country, and has made the hardware and bathroom industry into a negative predicament. How should the faucet control the amount of lead precipitation? With the outbreak of the “lead” incident and the introduction of the new national standard, the trend of the faucet industry is worrying.

On June 2, 2020, our newspaper’s interview and reporting team visited Wenzhou, Ningbo, Zhejiang, Nan’an, Fujian, and Kaiping, Guangdong, the hardware sanitary ware production areas, and learned that facing the future development trend of the faucet industry under the new national standard, some companies are optimistic. Some companies are walking on thin ice, and the current situation and future of the faucet industry are being eagerly discussed and studied by the industry.

Whether it is deeply affected by the “lead” incident or under the pressure of the environmental storm in the entire ceramic sanitary ware industry, the future development pattern of faucet products will inevitably change. Under the severe industrial situation, has the hardware and bathroom industry entered the era of industry reshuffle? Can the industry experience a qualitative change in the industry chain after the storm? From the perspective of product performance, function, and market demand, what are the new trends in faucets? With a series of questions, the author went to various production areas and enterprises to learn and understand.

Faucets are closely related to people’s daily life, and the safety of faucets greatly affects people’s health. In recent years, the health problems of faucets have caused social panic, and the “lead” incident of faucets in Wenzhou has triggered a crisis in the hardware and bathroom industry. Water is the source of life, and the faucet is the “gate of life”. The trickle flows out from the faucet. If the lead element contained in the faucet material is separated out and brought into the human body, this will bring it to millions of families. Potential health hazards, the faucet lead poisoning problem has become a social problem, which has also brought “haze” to the faucet market.

Although the lead content of faucets affects human health and is recognized as a hidden danger to residents’ drinking water, tracing the source of damage to the water source shows that the “guilt” of faucets is not so serious. Regardless of the impact of heavy metal elements used in the faucet on the human body, judging from the contact area between the water supply system and the water flow, the faucet is not a source of damage to the residents’ drinking water supply system.

“The lead content of faucets will definitely have a certain impact on the lead content in tap water, but faucets are the end product, which is at the end of the entire water supply pipeline, and it is also the part with the smallest impact.” Wang Jiade, manager of the Sanitary Quality Management Department, when talking about the “lead” of the faucet, bluntly said that although the faucet contains heavy metal elements which is destructive to drinking water, the faucet is located in the “rear few centimeters” of the entire water supply system, so it is in contact with the water flow. “Area” and friction are far inferior to other transportation links.