Tap aerators, the thread decides it and five say how many litres a minute
The short answer
Prices in GBPUSDEUReach row carries the day it was read
Twenty eight tap aerators from one search and the order export, none of them handled here. The small screw-on piece at the end of a tap spout that turns the flow into a soft white stream.
The thread decides it. Five of the twenty eight say how many litres a minute.
Which you are buying
| What the photographs show | Listings |
|---|---|
| A chrome aerator with a male or female thread | 20 |
| A plastic insert, the core that goes inside | 3 |
| A hidden aerator, fitted inside the spout with a key | 2 |
| A swivel head or flexible sprayer | 3 |
The chrome aerator is most of this page: a ring with a thread, and inside it a plastic or brass insert with a fine mesh screen and a rubber washer. The inserts sell only the part inside. The hidden aerators are for taps where the aerator sits up inside the spout instead of on the end of it.
Male or female
A female aerator has its thread on the inside of the ring and screws onto a spout that is threaded on the outside. A male aerator has its thread on the outside and screws into a spout threaded inside. Twenty five titles say male female, which usually means the listing sells both. The option you pick is the one that fits.
Measure first
The sizes here run from 16mm to 28mm. The best listing for this gives the measured diameter of every size it sells: a female 22mm thread at 21.1 to 21.3mm and a male 22mm at 21.6 to 21.8mm, so the two are half a millimetre apart. Its photographs put both on a pair of calipers. Another says to measure the diameter of the smallest ring. If you have no calipers, take the old aerator off and measure that.
Does your tap take one
The fitting pictures on this page show the aerator already on the tap being unscrewed and the new one going on in its place. If the end of your spout has a ring that unscrews, one of these will replace it. If it is an open pipe with no thread, none of these screws on. The two hidden aerators are for the taps in between, with the aerator set up inside the spout and a plastic key to reach it.
Water saving, and water purifier
Twenty three titles say water saving. Five say by how much, from 2 to 8 litres a minute, all of them sold under the Wasourlf name, and one sells the same aerator with five different cores so you can choose. Three show a before and after photograph of a tap running, which shows a whiter stream, not a smaller bill.
The Welsh Government’s Business Wales water tips, written for businesses, list aerators beside cistern dams, flow restrictors and trigger taps as relatively little investment for notable savings. The same page says a dripping tap can waste more than 5,500 litres of water a year. If a tap drips, an aerator will not fix it.
Nine titles say water purifier. What every one of them shows is a mesh screen in a ring, and no listing shows a test of what it takes out of the water.
What was left out, and why
Five thread adapters, which change one size of spout to another but are not aerators, came back from the search and were taken out, with a garden hose adapter. Of the chrome aerators, eight share one set of sunflower photographs and its nine size chart and four more share another set; the picks are the ones that measure, give a flow or show every part. A flexible sprayer asks in its own photograph for a five star review. The listing photographed with dozens of styles, the assorted set and the second hidden aerator give less to go on than the picks.
Side by side
Prices in GBPUSDEUR. Each row carries the date its price was read.
| Product | Price | Why it is here | Where to buyLink |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall, and it shows you how to measure Wasourlf 4L M18 M20 M22 M24 Water Saving Aerator | £3.57$4.60€4.20checked 18 Oct 2026 | A chrome aerator in seven sizes, female 18, 20 and 22mm and male 18, 20, 22 and 24mm, with the measured diameter of each in its own chart: 21.1 to 21.3mm for a female 22mm and 21.6 to 21.8mm for a male 22mm. Two photographs show calipers reading 21.05mm and 21.63mm. Its title says 4L, four litres a minute. Sold under the Wasourlf name | Check opens in a new tab |
| Choose how much water it lets through Wasourlf 2 Pieces Water Saving Faucet Aerator Black | £4.42$5.69€5.20checked 18 Oct 2026 | A black aerator with a choice of cores at 2, 3, 4, 6 or 8 litres a minute, each one photographed, which is the widest choice of flow here. Its drawing gives the female 22mm thread as 21.0 to 21.3mm, and a panel says to measure the diameter of the smallest ring. Two to a pack with washers, under the Wasourlf name | Check opens in a new tab |
| The usual chrome aerator, with every part shown 1Set 20/22/24/28mm Water Saving Tap Aerator Faucet | £2.09$2.78€2.46checked 18 Oct 2026 | A chrome shell with the insert, mesh screens and washer laid out beside it, female in 20 or 22mm and male in 20, 22, 24 or 28mm, each size given in millimetres and inches in its own chart. A drawing shows the old aerator unscrewed and the washer going in. No flow rate is given | Check opens in a new tab |
What you can settle before you buy
- Male or female. A female aerator has its thread on the inside and screws onto a spout threaded on the outside. A male aerator has its thread on the outside and screws into a spout threaded inside. The photographs show which is which more clearly than the titles.
- The size. The sizes on these run from 16mm to 28mm. One listing gives the measured diameter of every size it sells, a female 22mm at 21.1 to 21.3mm and a male 22mm at 21.6 to 21.8mm, and photographs both on a pair of calipers. Measure your spout before you choose.
- Whether your tap takes one. The fitting pictures here show the aerator already on the tap being unscrewed and the new one going on in its place. A spout with no ring on the end has nothing for these to screw onto. Two listings are for taps whose aerator sits inside the spout and comes out with a key.
- The flow, on five. Five listings say how many litres a minute their aerator lets through, from 2 to 8, all sold under the Wasourlf name. The rest say water saving and give no figure.
What to read twice
- Water purifier on nine titles. What these photographs show is a fine mesh screen in a chrome ring. No listing shows a test of anything it takes out of the water.
- Water saving with no number. Twenty three titles say water saving and eighteen of them never say by how much. Three show a before and after photograph of the flow, which shows it looking whiter, not using less.
- Eight listings, one set of photographs. Eight chrome aerators share the same sunflower photographs and the same nine size chart, at different prices, and four more share another set.
- Male and female in the title of almost every one. Twenty five titles say male female, which usually means the listing sells both, not that one part fits both. Pick the one your spout needs from the options.