Aquabrass Faucets Alt Progetto Aqua Faucets Review & Rating Updated: February 10, 2025
2255 W. Desert Cove Ave.
Suite D
Phoenix, AZ 85029
(888) 239-9336
(602) 943-4664
AD Waters Distribution (CAN), Inc.
9805 Clark St.
Montreal, QC H3L 2R5
(905) 660-4992
1. The term "lifetime" is is defined to mean "for as long as the original purchaser owns their [sic] home."
1. The term "lifetime" is not defined.
- Download/Read/Print the the Aquabrass faucet warranty.
- Download/Read/Print the the Alt Progetto Aqua faucet warranty.
- Learn more about faucet warranties.
- Find out how to enforce a consumer product warranty at The Warranty Game.
This Company In Brief
Aquabrass sells good to very good quality faucets made by reputable manufacturers.
There are two tiers of faucets, the top tier, made in Italy and a second tier made in Taiwan and China. The styling and price differences between the tiers are evident but there is no major difference in quality.
The faucets are supported by capable customer service but the warranties are below the standard North American lifetime warranty.
Organized in 1986, Aguabrass is a Canadian importer of faucets and kitchen and bath accessories for sale through authorized dealers in Canada and the U.S. It is owned and managed by the Panzera family.
The Company
In 2016, the original Aquabrass, Inc. was split into two separate corporations, Aquabrass Design, Inc. and AD Waters Distribution (CAN), Inc.
AD Waters is the exclusive distributor of Aquabrass products.
It also distributes upscale bathwares and cabinetry from:
• Fiora Bath Collections S.L. (Spain),
• Simas S.p.A. (Italy), and
• OLI-Sistemas Sanitários, S.A. (Portugal).
U.S. distribution of Aquabrass products is managed by Aquabrass International Corporation (AIC), a branch of AD Waters located in Arizona.
AIC distributes two lines of faucets in the U.S., Aquabrass, its primary brand, and Alt Progetto Aqua, a budget-priced project brand made in Asia intended for builders, contractors, and multi-unit applications including condominium, apartment, and hospitality projects.
Aquabrass Collections
Aquabrass faucets are organized into two collections: Modern and Classic.
The Modern collection is very contemporary, showing faucets that are minimalist, stark and angular.
Its classic collection is more relaxed and traditional. The faucets are usually part of a broader body of products that includes showers, tub fillers, and accessories. In some collections, coordinating architectural and cabinet hardware is available to finish off the look. Most of the faucets are stunning, a very few are prosaic.
The Manufacturers
Aquabrass does not manufacture its faucet. It buys them readymade from various overseas suppliers, including:
- Holatz Plumbing Fittings Industry Co., Ltd. (China) trades as Weixiang Sanitary Ware Co., Ltd., B-Jou, Kiki, Madison, and Calise Faucets. It supplied faucets to while that company was still selling faucets. It no longer does so.
- Horng Lai Industrial Co., Ltd. (Taiwan/China) has been manufacturing faucets since 1975.
- It sells under the Home Life brand throughout Asia. The company manufactures the Geo line of faucets for Aquabrass.
- Horng Lai provides some of its Home Life faucets to Water Creation, Inc. which sells them as its own faucets.
- IB Rubinetterie S.p.A. (Italy) is an established Italian manufacturer that sells a broad collection of faucets, fittings, and accessories throughout Europe and most of the rest of the world.
- It also manufactures faucets for the Canadian importers
- NCIP Inc. (Taiwan/China) is a manufacturer that supplies Aquabrass with its Alt, Antipasto, Cantina, Circo, Riga, Metro, Misto, Pranzo, Primo, Pulmi, Tapas, Trattoria faucet lines and all of the builder-grade Alt Progetto faucets.
- NCIP also manufactures faucets for
- Rubinetterie 3M S.r.l., widely known as Treemme, also manufactures faucets distributed by
- Vicario Armando & c. S.R.L., trading as Armando Vicario Rubinetterie, has been manufacturing in Gozzano, Italy since 1974. It is a fairly small company that makes well-designed contemporary faucets, fillers, and showers. It also manufactures for
- (Guangdong) Weixiang Sanitary Ware Co., Ltd. also trading as Weixiang Sanitary Tapware, is an ISO-9001 certified manufacturer of faucet, shower components, tub fillers and ceramic fixtures. It is part of the Wide Group of Chinese sanitary ware manufacturers. Weixiang specializes in decorative sanitary products for high-end and mid-priced markets.
- In addition to manufacturing for Aquabrass, Weixiang Sanitary also makes faucet for
- In 2018, the company received a highly prized iF Design Aware and an equally prestigeous Red Dot awart for the lavatory faucet in its Note collection.
Faucet Designs
According to the company, an increasing number of Aquabrass faucets are being designed in-house by a staff of engineers and designers.
It has not, however, as of the date of this report, identified a single faucet designed in-house by Aquabrass.
Many of the Italian faucets sold by Aquabrass are also for sale outside of North America under other model names. For example,
The faucets are taken from the of the Italian factories that manufacture the faucets rather than being designed by or especially for Aquabrass.
Aquabrass relies on the award-winning product designers and architects who work for its Italian manufacturers for most, if not all, of its designer faucets. These include such notables as Maurizio Duranti, Giulio Iacchetti, and Andrea Galmarini for IB Rubineterie and Danilo Fedeli, Giancarlo Vegni, Gianluca Belli, Marco Pisati, Rémi Théberge and Oco Studio for Treemme.
The distinctive Aquabrass Stiletto faucet, designed by Giancarlo Vegni for Treemme, for example, is sold in Europe by Treemme as the Hedo faucet. Likewise, faucets in the Bridge collection, designed by Treemme designer Rémi Théberge, are sold in the rest of the world as the Bridge Mono collection.
According to company sources, Aquabrass has begun assembling some of its faucets in Canada. The company does not, however, claim that its local assembly is sufficient to qualify the products for "Made in Canada" status, as that term is defined by the Canadian Competition Bureau.
Faucet Pricing
There is a considerable price difference between the Italian faucets sold by Aquabrass and the same faucets sold in Europe.
For example, the Aquabrass Stilleto faucet sells in the U.S. for a street price of $558.75. In Europe. Treemme sells the Hedo faucet for $357.73 (€302.00).
But, before you get tempted to compare prices at Amazon Italy, keep in mind that these European faucets do not meet North American standards and will not work with North American fittings.
In addition, they are not certified lead-free to the strict North American standards and, therefore, may not be lawfully installed in North America in any drinking water system.
Don't expect any steep price discounts on Aquabrass faucets.
The company enforces a Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP) policy which prohibits a dealer from advertising a price below the minimum price established by Aquabrass.
Dealers may sell a faucet for below the MAP price, but they cannot advertise the lower price.
The purpose of the policy is to keep internet sellers with much lower overheads from undercutting brick-and-mortar showrooms which are the principal Aquabrass retailers.
Julien Faucets
Aquabrass supplies many of the faucets offered by Canadian sink manufacturer which then sells the faucets under its own, completely different, model names.
Aquabrass Finishes
The Aquabrass finish chart shows nine "in-stock" finishes that include polished chrome and brushed nickel.
Not every faucet is available in all nine finishes. The in-stock finishes available on a faucet depend on which manufacturer makes the faucet.
The website sometimes incorrectly identifies the standard finishes available for a faucet, so you will need to download and display the .pdf format "specs" page for each faucet to see the actual standard finishes – a somewhat cumbersome process.
The company also offers fourteen custom finishes. There is, of course, not only an additional charge for custom finishes but a longer lead time while the faucet is custom manufactured.
Brushed gold appears on the company finish chart as both an in-stock and custom finish. It is available on some faucets as a standard finish and on others as a custom finish.
Faucet Warranties
Aquabrass and Alt Progetto Aqua have separate warranties.
Neither is competently drafted. They were probably not written by a lawyer. No doubt a company executive decided that his or her MBA was all the qualification needed to write a warranty. It is not, as is abundantly illustrated by the warranties.
Neither warranty complies with the U S. Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. §2308) applicable to faucets sold in the U.S. It is missing all of the required statutory language, and is unlikely to survive even a minor challenge in a U.S. court.
Consequential and Incidental Damages
The consequences of such omission can be severe. Aside from actual and exemplary damages, the company can be taxed with the plaintiff's attorney fees – a little gift from Magnuson-Moss for companies that sell in the U.S. while ignoring its mandates.
Aquabrass Warranty
The Aquabrass warranty provides as follows:
Polished chrome, electro black, stainless steel, and finishes are likewise guaranteed for as long as the buyer owns "their" home, but custom finishes are warranted for just three years (down from five years in 2018).
We don't know what the problem is with these finishes, which makes Aquabrass uncomfortable enough that it felt it could offer only a three-year warranty but, obviously, something.
Aquabrass attempts to disclaim any liability for consequential and incidental damages but omits the required clarifying statement that the disclaimer of these damages may not be allowed in certain states by state law. Without the qualifying statement, the attempted disclaimer of consequential and incidental damages is void in the U.S. and has no effect.
Image Credit: Aquabrass
Aquabrass Geo joystick lavatory faucet in Brushed Chrome.Some of the warranty's language may lead to trouble down the road.
For instance, the "lifetime" duration of the Aquabrass warranty is not actually for the owner's lifetime. It is defined as "as long as the original purchaser owns their [sic] home," a provision that unaccountably excludes buyers who don't own their home: renters and lessees. What Aquabrass has against these customers is unknown.
If the buyer owns a home at the time of purchase, it does not appear that she must continue to own the same home for the warranty to remain in force. Consider these scenarios:
1. Purchaser installs an Aquabrass faucet in her home, then moves to a new home, renting the old home. Is the faucet still under warranty? According to the definition, yes it is. The buyer still owns the home in which the faucet was originally installed.
2. What if the buyer buys a new home and sells the home in which the faucet is installed, is the warranty still in force?
Almost certainly.
The warranty does not require the buyer to own the home in which the faucet is installed. It merely requires her to own a home that qualifies as "their" home. Since the new home is certainly "their" home, the warranty continues in force.
One consequence of the faulty definition is that the original faucet owner could make a warranty claim for the benefit of the new owner, and if that owner sells the house to an even newer owner, for the newer owner as well, and the next owner and the next. This could extend Aquabrass's liabiiity for many decades.
Aquabrass may certainly argue that none of this was its intention, but intentions don't really matter, words do. As long as its warranty remains as currently written, it is stuck with these eventualities. Ambiguity in a written document, by the legal rule of contra proferentum, is always to be interpreted against the writer.
Alt Progetto Aqua Warranty
The Alt warranty has all the same problems as the Aquabrass document. It also fails to comply with Magnuson-Moss with all the attendant consequences of such failing.
Its amateurish drafting is most evident in the complete omission of any definition of the term, "lifetime."
Courts have repeatedly warned that the word "lifetime" used in a warranty is not self-defining. It must be explained.
What "lifetime" is meant – the life of the buyer, the faucet, the company, Canada itself? We simply do not know because the warranty is completely silent.
One consequence to the company is that in any dispute over how long the lifetime part of the warranty lasts, a court will be compelled to award the longest lifetime reasonably available, most probably the life of the faucet, which could be a very long time.
Customer Service
Our customer service experience with Aquabrass has been good. But, it has changed under AD Waters.
Neither the telephone number nor an e-mail address for customer support is published any longer on the company website (but see above). The only contact option is through a contact-us screen, which, if you need help right away, is not very helpful.
Once you get in contact with an agent, however, things move along quickly with the cordiality for which Canadians are well-known.
Most of the time the customer service agent just wants to know what model faucet you have so the correct parts can be sent. The original receipt that the warranty requires "be made available" is almost never asked for. Most of the time the company takes the common-sense approach that you would not be asking for help with an Aquabrass or Alt faucet if you did not own one.
Neither the Better Business Bureaus of Canada nor of the U.S. have a file on Aquabrass, which typically means that it has received no adverse reports about the company in either country, am excellent record to have, especially consider how long the company has been in business.
Faucet Quality
We upgraded our rating of Aquabrass from 5-8 to 6-8, several years ago for a number of reasons, including:
- Clear and evident improvement in the company's faucets over five years.
- Choice of world-class manufacturers with solid reputations for quality products.
- Faucets with very few reported problems, and customer support that is quick, capable, and bi-lingual.
- A clear record with the Better Business Bureau.
- Adoption of the excellent Flühs ceramic cartridge for all Aquabrass two-handle faucets.
- No serious installation issues.
Testing & Certification
Comparable Faucets
Fully certified, safe and lead-free faucets made in Italy that are comparable to Aquabrass include any of the following:
We judge Aquabrass Italian-made faucets to be a good to very good value with a good price-to-value relationship and well worth consideration by Canadian buyers looking for an Italian-inspired design that is reasonably priced with a North American warranty and parts support.
Aquabrass compares well to the Three other North American companies that import Italian faucets: All offer at least as good a value on a well-designed faucet coupled with a good warranty. Some Italian companies such as that sell in North America, offer 5- and 10-year warranties – acceptable in Europe – but substantially below the North American standard limited lifetime warranty.
Fully certified, safe and lead-free faucets made in Asia that are comparable to Aquabrass include any of the following:
Aquabrass Taiwanese- and Chinese-made faucets are substantially equivalent to the faucets sold by companies such as The four companies share roughly the same manufacturers, so their faucets are very similar in quality if not in design.
Continuing Research
We are continuing to research the company. If you have experience with Aquabrass faucets, good, bad, or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us or post a comment below.