While installing plumbing fixtures in airports, restaurants or other high-traffic restrooms, have you ever looked at the hands-free electronic faucets being used and wondered how they were developed? Recent improvements and developments to hands-free electronic faucets have led to increased use in public facilities and private homes as well. As more contractors and specifiers choose electronic faucets for their building and remodeling projects, the inquiries into how these faucets work and when they began appearing on the market have become more common.
Manufacturers began developing hands-free faucets in the early 1970s under the name "proximity faucets." Many companies tried to create faucets that would allow water to flow without use of a handle or push-button, to alleviate people's fears about spreading germs in public restrooms, as well as to make faucet use easier for people with disabilities. Research showed that incorporating an electric power source and a timing function would allow for such a product.