Plumbing – To use a US shower head in India or elsewhere abroad

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So, I asked this question as I wanted to use this water purifying/ dechlorination/ calcium type of shower head outside the US.

I had also posted a similar question on Amazon, but I realize it needs knowledge of Plumbing parts and standards and if/ how they vary across the Globe.

Any experts share their wisdom on whether US based shower heads can be used in India and/ or other nations abroad? Directly or with some attachments/ fixtures?

Update: I figured someone here knows or can point me to "information" on standards of such things across nations.

For example, I was able to google Electrical Plug/ Socket Pins types and voltages etc and now know how most of it operates.

I found some orgs, but not yet any information on standards:

Any resources for plumbing that point out standards?

https://www.amazon.com/Culligan-WSH-C125-Wall-Mount-Capacity-Showerhead/dp/B0006VVN1S/

Q: Could this be used in India? and its filtering purifying mechanism be recharged/ replaced in time?

A: The only requirement for using this filtering showerhead is that it fits the pipe you want to attach it to.

It might be possible to use some kind of connecting pipe fitting to make the showerhead fit.

It filters using a replaceable cartridge.

The cartridge says it's good for 6 months or 10,000 gallons. I am the only one using mine and the cartridges don't last 6 months. I have to replace mine every 5 months but I love what it does to the water!

Best Answer

Pipe in India most likely conforms to (BSP): ISO-7-1 British Standard Pipe Taper (BSPT)

INDIAN STANDARDS : Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) have so far not developed an Indian Standard for the design of Piping Systems. Hence, ANSI Standards ASME 31.1 and 31.3 are widely used for the design. These standards also accept materials covered in other standards. Unlike American Standards, Indian Standards cover dimensions and material specifications under the same standard number. There are no groupings based on branch of engineering. Some of the most commonly referred Indian Standards by Piping Engineers are :

[truncated, see link; e.g., IS 554 : Dimensions of Pipe Threads]

There are certain other international standards, which are also referred in Piping Industry. These are DIN standards of Germany and JIS standards of Japan. DIN standards are more popular and equivalent. –CODES and STANDARDS, www.svlele.com

IS 554 : 1999
IS0 7-11 : 1994

"This Indian Standard (Fourth Revision) which is identical with IS0 7-l : 1994 [...]" –law.resource.org (ISO-7-1 British Standard Pipe Taper)

Which means you'll need an adapter that gets you from NTP to BSPT

Then again, according to this table (BSP vs NPT), 1/2" and 3/4" pipe both have 14 threads per inch, and the pitch of the threads are only off by five degrees, so I think a copious amount of PTFE tape would make a shower head work just fine. But don't quote me on that; I've never encountered BSP in the field and had to make it work with NPT fittings.

It has been mentioned that, "That model, it super sucks. The flow is extremely low." Might I suggest that you install a (valved) wye fitting and have both shower heads. Use the new one only for doing your hair so as to not prematurely clog the filter.

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