Why a separate tap rather than through the mixer
You can plumb a filter back through your existing mixer so the filtered water comes out of the tap you already use. Plenty of people do, and there is nothing wrong with it.
The reason most households end up preferring a dedicated tap is simple arithmetic. If everything runs through the cartridge — rinsing plates, filling the pot, running the tap while you scrub something — the cartridge does a great deal of work for the small share of water you actually drink. A separate tap means the filter only runs when you want it to, so the cartridge lasts as it is meant to.
The second reason is that it keeps the mixer doing its normal job at full flow. A filter takes a bite out of flow rate, and people notice that most when they are trying to fill a sink.
The hole in the benchtop
This is the part of the job people do not think about until the plumber mentions it, so here it is up front.
If there is a spare hole, we use it. Kitchens that once had a separate soap dispenser, a spray head or an older tap arrangement often have a redundant hole sitting under a blanking cap. That is the quick version of this job, and it is worth the plumber looking before assuming anything has to be drilled.
If there is not, the benchtop gets drilled. On laminate that is routine and fast. On stone — engineered stone or granite — it is a slower, more careful, more deliberate job, and it needs to be priced and planned as one rather than attempted casually. Stone benchtops are unforgiving, and they are common in kitchens that have been renovated in the last couple of decades, which covers a good share of Kardinya. The suburb's houses went up between October 1967 and the late 1980s, and most of those kitchens are not the original ones.
Either way, where the hole goes is a decision made with you standing there, not a decision made for you. Which side of the mixer, how far from the edge, how it sits with the splashback and whether the cupboard below can take the fittings at that position — all of it gets worked out before anything is cut.
Matching the finish
A filtered tap sits directly beside your existing mixer, which means the mismatch is visible from across the room if it is wrong.
Chrome, brushed nickel, matte black, gunmetal, brass — tapware finishes have multiplied, and a "chrome" tap from one maker does not always sit happily beside a "chrome" tap from another. It is worth deciding what you want it to match before ordering, rather than after it is on the bench.
Shape matters as much as finish. A tall gooseneck filtered tap beside a low mixer looks like an afterthought. A short one beside a tall pull-down mixer disappears. Tell us what your existing tapware looks like when you ring and it can be sorted at quote stage.
What it connects to
A filtered tap is the outlet. It has to connect to something that filters.
To a new under-sink system
The common version of this job — the filter and the tap go in together as one install. Under sink water filter installation
To a reverse osmosis system
Reverse osmosis always has its own tap, because that water does not get plumbed back through a mixer. The tap is part of the job rather than an option on it. Reverse osmosis installation
To a filter that is already there
If there is a working cartridge unit under the sink already plumbed through your mixer, a dedicated tap can often be added to it. Worth asking about — it is a smaller job than replacing the lot.
To a whole-house system
Less common, because a whole-house unit is already filtering the kitchen tap. Some households still want a separate polished-water tap at the sink on top of it. Whole house filtration
How the job runs
You ring or send the form
Tell us what your current tapware looks like and whether there is a filter under the sink already.
A licensed plumber comes out at no charge
He checks the benchtop material, looks for a spare hole, and looks at the cupboard and the cold feed underneath.
You get a written price on site
Itemised, before anything is touched — including the drilling if the benchtop needs it. Transparent pricing, no hidden costs.
We fit it
Hole used or drilled, tap seated and sealed, connection made back to the filter, everything isolated properly.
Flushed and tested
A new cartridge needs running through before the water is worth drinking, and the connections get checked under pressure before we leave.
Afterwards
The tap itself is not a consumable. The cartridge feeding it is. When the flow at the filtered tap drops off or the taste starts to creep back, that is a cartridge change. Cartridge replacement in Kardinya