Aquabrass Alt Progetto Aqua Review & Rating Updated: April 19, 2026

Imported

Italy

China

Taiwan

Aquabrass International Corporation
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
communications@ad-waters.com.

AD Waters (USA), Inc.
5553 Anglers Ave., Suite 116
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312

Rating

Business Model

Product Range

Kitchen and Bath Faucets

Certifications

Brands
Aquabrass
Alt Progetto Aqua

Street Price

Canada

Aquabrass: $175 - $2,085 CAD

Alt Progetto Aqua:$99 - $499 CAD

U.S

Aquabrass: $131 - $1,465 USD

Alt Progetto Aqua:$239 - $529 USD

Warranty Scores

Aquabrass

Cartridge

Lifetime

Chrome and Nickel Finishes

Lifetime

All Other Finishes

5 years

Mechanical Parts

Lifetime

Electronic Parts

Lifetime

Proof of Purchase

Required

Transferable

No

Complies with U.S. Warranty Law

No

Download/Read/Print the Aqua­brass fau­cet warranty.

Alt Progetto Aqua

Cartridge

Lifetime

Chrome, Stainless, and PVD Finishes

Lifetime

All Other Finishes

3 years

Mechanical Parts

5 years

Electronic Parts

2 years

Proof of Purchase

Required

Transferable

No

Complies with U.S. Warranty Law

No

Download/Read/Print the the Alt Pro­get­to Aqua fau­cet warranty.

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, Aguabrass, made in Italy and China, and a second tier, Alt Progetto Aqua, made in Taiwan and China.

The styling difference between the tiers is evident. most Aquabrass faucets feature that Italian elan that is not available anywhere else. But we found no major difference in quality.

Prices between the two collections differ considerably at the high end. At the low end, however, they are roughly the same.

The faucets are supported by capable customer service, but the warranties are sub-par when compared to the standard North Amer­ican lifetime warranty.

The Company

Aquabrass is a Can­a­di­an company, organized in 1986, that imports and sells Ital­i­an and Asian faucets and kitchen and bath accessories sold in Canada and the U.S through authorized dealers.

The company is owned and managed by the Panzera family, which is prominently associated with the Ital­i­an-Can­a­di­an business community in Montreal, primarily through their ownership of Ciot, Inc., organized in 1950 to sell imported stone and tile, primarily from Italy.

Giuseppe "Joe" Panzera, an Ital­i­an immigrant, became CEO of Ciot in 1957, and, along with his family, built the company into a substantial family-run business now known as Ciot-75, with stores in Canada and the U.S.

Aquabrass is a Ciot spin-off, formed to import products other than stone and tile, building on the family's connections and long experience with importing from Italy.

In 2016, the original Aqua­brass, Inc. was split into two separate corporations, Aqua­brass Design, Inc. and AD Waters Distribution, Inc.

Aquqbrass Design, Inc.

It is not clear what Aqua­brass Design actually designs.

It holds itself as a designer and manufacturer of faucets, showers, and related products. However, we have found no evidence of manufacturing in any facility owned by Aqua­brass. Nor can we identify any products designed by Aqua­brass other than a shower head, two faucet spouts, a faucet handle, and a "combination bathtub and shower base facility."

The company holds a current Can­a­di­an petent on the bathtub and shower base, and expired U.S. patents on the other designs.

From the information we have, it appears that Aqua­brass Design is solely an importer of foreign-made products rather than a designer and manufacturer of domestic products.

AD Waters Distribution, Inc.

Distribution and sales are handled by AD Waters Distribution (CAN), Inc. in Canada and by AD Waters (US), Inc. in the U.S. Founded in 1992 as a Florida corporation, it is headed by CEO, Antonio (Tony) Masecchia.

U.S. distribution, however, is a little murky. According to the company's literature, U.S. distribution is managed by yet another company, Aqua­brass International Corporation (AIC), organized in Arizona. The exact role each of these corporations plays in U.S. distribution is unclear.

We have asked Aguabrass for a clarification, but have not received a response from the company. After days of waiting, we are not sure one is forthcoming.

The Brands

In addition to Aqua­brass, its upscale brand, the company distributes Alt Pro­get­to Aqua, a lower-priced brand made in Asia.

Originally intended primarily for builders, contractors, and multi-unit applications, including condominium, apartment, and hospitality projects, it has slowly migrated into a consumer product alongside Aquabrass.

The company is also a distributor of bathwares and cabinetry from other, unrelated, companies including:

• Fiora Bath Collections S.L. (Spain: Sinks, bathtubs, shower enclosures, and bathroom furniture),

• Simas S.p.A. (Italy: ceramic bathroom fixtures),

• OLI-Sistemas Sanitários, S.A. (Portugal: Commericial restroom fixtures and fittings), and

• Rubinetterie 3M Srl trading as Rubinetterie Treemme (Italy: faucets and bathroom accessories such as towel racks and similar products).

The Manufacturers

Although Aqua­brass claims to be a manufacturer, there is no evidence that it actually manufactures any of the products it sells. It buys them ready-made from various overseas suppliers, including:

The 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.

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, and has applied for no design patents in the U.S. or Canada for faucets. (A design patent is the usual protection against others copying an original design.)

We found many of the Ital­i­an faucets sold by Aqua­brass for sale outside of North America under other model names.

Aquabrass faucets appear to be taken from the of the Ital­i­an factories that make them rather than being designed by or especially for Aqua­brass.

Aquabrass relies on the aproduct designers and architects who work for its manufacturers for its designer faucets.

The distinctive Aquabrass Stiletto faucet, designed by Giancarlo Vegni, 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.

Also, 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

Aquabrass faucets are priced at the mid-price level, venturing into luxury pricing at the high end. It is possible to buy an Aquabrass faucet for under $200.00. At the top end, prices for faucets in special finishes can climb to nearly $1,500 in the U.S. and somewhat higher in Can­ada.

Alt Progetto Aqua faucets do not reach the sometimes stratospheric prices of Aquabrass faucets, topping out at about $500.00 in both countries. At the low end, however, the the prices are also near $200.00.

Comparison to European Prices

There is a considerable price difference between the Ital­i­an faucets sold by Aqua­brass in North Amer­ica and the same faucets sold in Europe.

For example, the Aqua­brass Stilleto faucet, made by Tremme, sells in the U.S. for a street price of $558.75. The same faucet, sold in Europe by Treemme as the Hedo, runs around $357.73 (€302.00).

Some level of price bump In North America is expected.

But these factors do not explain all of the difference in pricing between the two continents, suggesting the Aquabrass markup on its fau­cets is fairly generous.

Minimum Advertised Prices

Don't expect any steep price discounts on either brand, no matter where you buy them in North America.

The company enforces a Min­imum Ad­ver­tised Pric­ing (MAP) policy, which prohibits a dealer from advertising a price below the minimum price established by Aqua­brass.

It is a form of price fixing, legal in Canada under Section 76 of the Competition Act, and in the U.S. as a result of the Supreme Court ruling in Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc.

Dealers may sell a faucet for below the MAP price, but they cannot advertise the lower price. (The policy is the reason you will see "Call for Price" on some websites. The implication is that the retailer is selling below the MAP price. Our research, however, found that this is not necessarily true.)

The policy has a reasonable purpose. It protects brick-and-mortar showroom retailers by discouraging internet sellers, with much lower overheads, from discounting below the price at which showrooms can sell. Without the policy, many shworooms could not afford to carry the product line.

Faucet Valve Cartridges

The faucet component that actually controls water is the valve. The valve is sttached to a handle. Turning the handle opens the valve to allow water to flow or closes the valve to stop the water from flowing. The rest of the faucet is essentially nothing more than a housing for the valve that makes the faucet pretty and channels the flowing water into a sink or other catchment.

Modern faucet valves are housed in removable cartridges, unlike valves in the early years of faucet manufacturing, when they were a part of the faucet itself. The advantage of self-contained cartridges is that they can be easily removed and replaced, quickly restoring the faucet to full functionality.

Today's valves do not use vulnerable rubber washers to control water flow. Rubber wears out fairly quickly and needs to be replaced once or twice each year. Modern valves use nearly indestructible ceramic discs that don't wear out.

Two-handle faucets are equipped with what are called stem cartridges or headworks. Two cartridges are required, one for the hot (left) side and one for the right (cold) side. These are relatively simple valves that control just the rate of water flow. Ceramic stem cartridges were invented by and patented in 1971. To show how confident it was in the new technology, it provided a 100-year warranty on the cartridges (and still does).

Single-handle faucets require a more complex device called a mixing cartridge that controls water temperature as well as flow rate. Mixing cartridges were invented by in 1972.

Ceramic cartridges do not wear out. The cermic disks are almost as hard as diamond, and so precisely polixhed that when pressed together the gap between them is smaller than an atom of water, so water cannot possibly squeeze past.

If a modern faucet leaks, it is rarely a defect in the valve. It is usually the accumulation of mineral deposits on the polished surface of the ceramic disk. These prevent the discs from fully meshing togeter, allowing water to slip plast. The cure for this is to periodically (about every five years, a little more often in very hard water areas) remove the accumulated mineral deposits.

Learn how clean to ceramic valve of mineral build-up at How To Clean a Ceramic Valve Cartridge

Aquabrass uses some very good valve catridges in its faucets.

The stem cartridges used in many of the company's two-handle fau­cets are from the German firm, Flühs Drehtechnik, GmbH, generally thought of as the manufacturer of the world's best single-function stem cartridges for two-handle fau­cets.

Some Aquabrass single-handle fau­cets are fitted with ceramic valve cartridges made by the European technical ceramics company, Kerox Kft of Hungary.

Kerox is the preferred mixing cartridge. Its reputation is well-earned for extremely reliable cartridges that perform well even in relatively hard water. We know it to be a very good, long-lasting cartridge.

We also identified cartridges that appear to be from Studio Tecnico Sviluppo e Ricerche (STSR) S.r.L. and Hydroplast, S.r.L., both excellent Italian cartridge makers, and several cartridges from Galatron Plast S.p.A., an Italian technical ceramics company that is credited with developing the standardized designs used in most modern ceramic fau­cet cartridges.

The faucets made in China generally contained valve cartridges by Sedal S.L.U., a technical ceramics company chartered in Spain but manufacturing in China. These have traditionally been considered not quite the equal of Kerox valves, but that viewpoint is on its way out as Sedal improves on its products year after year.

Alt Progetto Aqua cartridges were, as one might suspect, from lesser-known Chinese manufacturers, some of which lack the maker-marks that allow the menufacturer to be identified.

However, all valve cartridges have to be certified for use in North America. Certification involves a life-cycle test that puts the valve through 500,000 on/off cycles, and what is iformally called a "burst test" that subjects a faucet to ten times normal household water pressure for one minute to see if it will deform or leak. If the valve fails either of these tests, it does not get certified.

Consequently, all ceramic valves used in certified faucets, even those from companies we have never heard of, are almost certain to be adequate to the task of controlling water.

Certainly Aquabrass thinks so, and guarantees all of its faucet vales for a lifetime.

Faucet Finishes

The Aquabrass finish chart shows nine "in-stock" finishes. Of these, Alt Progetto Aqua finishes include three: Polished Chrome, Brushed Nickel, and Electro Black.

Not every faucet is available in every finish. The standard finishes available on a faucet depend on which manufacturer makes the faucet.

The company also offers fourteen custom finishes on Aquabrass faucets. There is, of course, not only an additional charge for custom finishes but a longer lead time while the faucet is custom-manufactured.

Custom finishes are not available on Alt Progetto Aqua faucets.

The Aquabrass website, unlike those of most other fau­cet companies, discloses the processes used to produce its standard finishes. The process used has an enormous bearing on the durability of the finish.

It does not, however, disclose the processes used to create its custom finishes. Since these have a very short warranty (three years), it would be prudent to determine the process before ordering any of these finishes.

Stainless Steel

Two of Aquabrass' finishes. Brushed and Polished Stainless Steel are identified as "native" finishes.

These are not applied coatings, but the stainless steel material of the fau­cet buffed, and polished or brushed to an attractive finish.

The finish has the advantage that it cannot possibly peel or delaminate since it is the faucet's native material. But it has the disadvantage of more readily showing fingerpprints that other finishes, especially in the polished version.

Electroplating

Electroplating is a traditional process for finishing fau­cets. It involves immersing the fau­cet and the metal to be used as plating in an acid bath, then applying an electrical charge to both objects so metallic ions are drawn from the plating metal to the fau­cet.

Chrome does not bond well with brass, so one or more undercoats, usually of nickel, are applied before one or more coats of chrome.

The process is potentially hazardous to the operator and the environment.

It involves toxic and corrosive chemicals that must be disposed of safely. No other coating technology even comes close to the dangers involved in electroplating.

The durability of the finish depends on the metal used as the plating.

Chrome is very hard and very durable; nickel is much softer and scratches more easily, which is the reason chrome replaced nickel in the early 20th century as a faucet finish of choice.

Physical Vapor Deposition

Physical vapor deposition, or PVD, is one of the latest space-age metal-coating technologies, rapidly replacing electroplating as the finish of choice.

Although the technology was discovered in the 19th century, it was not used in industry until the 1950s and, even then, only rarely due to its great expense.

Its first use was inside nuclear reactors, where very tough coatings are mandatory.

Today, PVD technology is everywhere, and the equipment required is getting smaller, faster, and cheaper all the time.

The process is the closest that the coatings industry gets to actual magic.

Load a chamber with unfinished faucet components, remove all the air, and add back a carefully calculated mix of nitrogen or argon and reactive gases.

Add a rod of the metal to be used for the coating. Heat that rod to a temperature so high that the metal dissolves into individual atoms. The atoms mix with the various reactive gases to get the color and finish effects you want and are then deposited in a very thin layer – 2 to 5 microns – on the faucets.

A micron is one-millionth of a meter or 1/26,000 of an inch. The average human hair is 83 microns thick. The smallest object a human eye with excellent vision can see without magnification is about 5 microns.

Amazing finish effects can be produced. For example, titanium, an inert, dull gray metal in its natural state, can be used to create a gold finish, like Aquabrass' Brushed Gold, by combining it in a PVD chamber with nitrogen gas.

We have had several coatings experts explain why this works, but, frankly, we still don't get it. We just call it magic and let it go at that.

Despite being very thin, a PVD coating is extremely dense and, in consequence, very hard and incredibly durable. By some estimates, it is up to 20 times more scratch-resistant than electroplated chrome.

From long experience, we know that PVD is nearly impossible to accidentally scratch or mar, never fades or changes color, and resists all forms of soiling.

It can usually be maintained with just an occasional wipe from a damp cloth to remove water spots.

Non-Metallic Finishes

Metallic finishes can produce some colors, especially through the PVD process. But the range of colors is very limited. Most color finishes are some form of paint.

One Aquabrass color finish, Electro Black, is a lacquered finish. Brushed Gold is a powder coat.

Both powder and lacquer coatings are commonly referred to as painted finishes, although the finishing processes differ substantially.

Powder Coatings

Powder coats are a powdered paint, used widely in industry to produce color finishes with a process that does not require a long curing time like most liquid paints.

Daniel Gustin is credited with inventing the powder coating process during World War II to help speed up U.S. production of war materials. He received U.S. patent 2538562 in 1945 for his "electrostatic coating method and apparatus."

The apparatus was a flame sprayer that shot colored thermoplastic powder onto a surface and cured it at the same time. It was temperamental and dangerous, but it shortened production time considerably.

Today's powder coating process, invented by Dutch chemist Peter de Lange in 1962, is much saner.

A low-velocity spray gun safely disperses the powder while giving it a positive electrical charge. The powder particles are drawn to the negatively charged fau­cet parts and components to be coated.

Then the fau­cet is "cooked" under ultraviolet light or in an oven at about 400^°F (204^°C) (depending on the requirement of the specific powder brand being used), to bond the powder and change the structure of the coating into long, cross-linked molecular chains.

The cross-linked chains give the coating its durability.

Lacquered Finishes

Aquabrass' lacquered finishes are probably not lacquered.

The term is common in the industry to refer to any liquid coating, a leftover from past decades when a liquid coating was very likely to be a lacquer of some sort.

Modern "lacquer" finishes are usually created by spraying the fau­cet with several layers of a much more durable in a spray booth – the same apparatus used by an auto-body shop, but usually smaller.

Basic lacquer coatings may be followed up with hand-applied highlights, shadows, and textured effects as needed to produce a specific appearance. Some of these final treatments, especially those on special order finishes, require real artistry to create interesting finish effects.

Painted Finish Durability

Both powder coatings and lacquer finishes are much less robust than most metallic finishes. They are usually described in industry literature as "semi-dur­a­ble."

The finishes have about the same robustness as the finish on your car, tough but not immune to scratches and chips. They typically require more care to maintain a like-new appearance year after year.

Thin Film Ceramic Coating

An alternative to relatively fragile powder and lacquer coatings has been introduced to the faucet industry in North America only very recently. This is Thin Film Ceramic (TFC) coating, a liquid paint infused with microscopic ceramic particles that make the material highly resistant to scratches and other surface damage, almost as durable as the nearly indestructible PVD finishes.

Originally used to protect firearms and military field equipment (where robustness is paramount and prettiness counts not at all), the process is being refined by companies like CeramTec to produce an increasing rainbow of colors combined with damage resistance not available from other painted coatings.

Although available in Europe, TFC has not yet been widely adopted by European fau­cet manufacturers, including the companies that manufacture fau­cets for Aquabrass.

For a fau­cet company that has adopted TFC technology, see

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 consumer warranty, one of the most complex of legal documents. It is not, as is abundantly illustrated by the company's 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.

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:

"Aquabrass offers a warranty against defects in materials and workmanship under normal conditions of use, care and maintenance of the product(s), for as long as the original purchaser owns their home. The warranty applies only when the product is purchased from an authorized Aquabrass dealer. It is not transferable and is limited to products sold and installed in Canada and the United States."

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 custom finishes, which makes Aqua­brass uncomfortable enough that it felt it could offer only a three-year warranty, but, obviously, something.

Improper Disclaimer of Certain Damages

The Aquabrass warranty attempts to disclaim any liability for consequential and incidental damages but omits the clarifying statement required by the federal statute:

"Some States do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you."

Without the qualifying statement, the attempted disclaimer of consequential and incidental damages is void in the U.S. and has no legal effect.

Exclusionary Definition of "Lifetime"

Some of the warranty's language is not just vague, it is nonsensical.

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,"

This definition has the effect of excluding buyers who don't own their home from any warranty coverage. Since they don't own a home, their warranty ends the moment it begins. What Aqua­brass has against renters and lessees who buy its fau­cets is unknown.

And, it's not just renters and lessees who are excluded from warranty protection. Many very well-to-do people, the company's target market, don't own their homes. The homes are owned by trusts set up for tax and estate management purposes. But, since these buyers don't actually own their homes, they do not qualify for Aquabrass wrranty protection.

Moreover, if the buyer owns a home at the time of purchase, it does not appear that she must continue to own that same home for the warranty to remain in force.

Consider these scenarios:

1. Buyer 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 warranty's definition of lifetime, yes, it is. The buyer still owns a home that qualifies as "their home." It's not the original home, but it does not have to be. So the warranty is till in force even though the faucet remains in the old house.

2. What if the buyer buys a new home and moves the faucet to the new home, is the warranty still in force?

Almost certainly.

The warranty does not require the buyer to own the home in which the faucet is first 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. She can move as many times as she likes, and as long as the faucet moves with her, it remains under warranty.

3. Even if the faucets does not move with her, it is probably still under warrnty. For example, the buyer buys a new home and sells the old home to cousin Nell. Is the warranty still in effect?

Probably.

The buyer's new home certainly qualifies as "their" home, so the warranty continues in force. There is no requirement in the warranty that she continue to own the faucet. If Nell's faucet breaks, the buyer can enforce a claim on the warranty for Nell's benefit. Although the warranty itself does not transfer to a subsequent owner of the faucet, there is nothing in the warranty that prevents the benefits available under the warranty from being extended to the new owner.

Aquabrass may 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, Aqua­brass is stuck with these outcomes.

Ambiguity in a written legal document is, by the rule of contra proferentum, always to be interpreted against the writer.

The lesson to be learned from the Aquabrass warranty is that if you are going to provide a written warranty, make sure you know what you are writing.

Alt Progetto Aqua Warranty

The Alt warranty has many of the same problems as the Aqua­brass document. It also fails to comply with Magnuson-Moss, with all the attendant consequences of such failure.

Here is the warranty for residential buyers:

• Limited lifetime warranty for ceramic disc cartridges.
• Five (5) year warranty for all other cartridges (thermostatic cartridges, diverters, check stop mechanisms etc.).
• Limited lifetime warranty for the polished chrome, stainless steel and PVD finishes
• Three (3) year warranty for all other finishes.
• Two (2) year warranty for electronic faucets and components (batteries are not covered by our warranty).
• Five (5) year warranty for all other Aquabrass product(s) and parts. (empphasis supplied)

How "Aquabrass" got into an Alt Progettor Aqua warranty, we don't know, but suspect it is a mistake and should be "Alt Progetto Aqua."

Undefined "Lifetime"

The warranty's less than professional 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 by Contra proferentem to award the longest lifetime reasonably available, most probably the life of the faucet, which could be a very long time.

In our day jobs, remodeling kitchens and baths in heritage homes, we routinely come across fau­cets that are well over 50 years old, some approaching a century, and some even older, so old that the companies that made them no longer exist.

Undefined "etc."

This language …

Five (5) year warranty for all other cartridges (thermostatic cartridges, diverters, check stop mechanisms etc.)

… is ambiguous. It does not meet the federal law requirement that a consumer warranty be written in language that is "simple and readily understood" by a typical buyer.

Exactly what is included in "etc." We don't know, a consumer buyer certainly would not know, and it is likely that whoever wrote the warranty also does not know. An "etc." should never be used in a consumer warranty. It is ambiguous by its very nature and cannot meet the language repquirments of a consumer warranty.

For an example of a warranty that avoids these problems and meets all of the requirements of U.S. warranty law, see the Model Limited Lifetime Warranty.

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 nearly as helpful as a telephone number.

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. The company usually 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.

BBB Rating

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.

The company is not accredited by the BBB and not pledged to its code of ethical business conduct. It should be.

Faucet Quality

We upgraded our rating of Aqua­brass from 5-8 to 6-8 several years ago for a number of reasons, including:

We have no basis at this time for changing that overall rating.

Testing & Certification

Comparable Faucets

Fully certified, safe, and lead-free faucets made in Italy or China that are comparable to Aqua­brass iwith the same or a better warranty but not necessarily at the same price range, include any of the following:

Fully certified, safe, and lead-free faucets made in Asia that are comparable to At Pro­get­to Aqua with the same or a better warranty but not necessarily at the same price range, 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 and design.

In Conclusion

We judge Aqua­brass Italian-made faucets to be a good value with a good price-to-value relationship and well worth consideration by buyers looking for an Ital­i­an-inspired design that is reasonably priced with a North Amer­i­ca warranty and parts support.

Aquabrass compares well to the three other North Amer­i­can companies that import Ital­i­an faucets:

All of these companies offer at least as good a value on well-designed faucets coupled with a good warranty. Some Ital­i­an companies such as that sell in North America, offer mere 5- and 10-year warranties – acceptable in Europe – but substantially below the North Amer­i­ca standard limited lifetime warranty.

So, for a good quality, Italian-made faucet with a fairly strong warrty, Aquabrass should be one of the first places you look.

The Aqua­brass Chinese-made faucets are also a good value, just not as good. Prices are a little steep for Chinese products. The designs are better than average for Asian faucets, however, and the quality is very good.

Alt Progetto Aqua faucets priced below $300.00 are a fair to good value, but above that price, their price-to-value rlationship drops dramatically. Many of the same faucets can be purchased elsewhere for less.

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 email us at starcraftreviews@yahoo.com or post a comment below.

Please note: we do not answer questions posted in the comments unless they are of general interest. If you have a question, email us at starcraftreviews@yahoo.com.