Alsons 4922PK Shower Arm Diverter, Chrome

For the last 20 years we have gotten by with the shower diverter that came with the hand-held spray we bought. It is the kind of diverter with a knob on top that you need to pull up to switch from shower to hand held sprayer. As the years went by, our hands grew weaker and the knob harder and harder to pull. Obviously, what we needed was a diverter operated by a lever instead of a pull knob (see Physics 01). I stopped by our local Ace Hardware, Home Depot, and Lowes stores hoping to find an all-metal diverter with a lever. All seemed to be going the way of supermarket shelving algorithms and to be not the least bit interested in helping semi-skilled homeowners solve problems.

I was just a bit hesitant to order the Alsons diverter because one of the nice touches of our current diverter is that it connects to the pipe coming out from the wall with a collar you can use to align the diverter vertically before you snug things up. Needless worry. I screwed the...Read more

Metal diverters are reliable and will pay you back in the long run: no leaks and the valve handle turns easily. Plastic often cracks and the threads are never as accurate.

It's such a simple design that I can't believe that more companies have not come out with something similar to this. The standard design that most companies use for the water diverter leaves a lot to be desired. Those tend to leak from the outset & don't seem to last very long. There is no leakage problem with the Alsons 4922 PK water diverter & it's so easy to use. The price was right & seems to be very well constructed. Furthermore, since it was purchased on Amazon, I know that the service would have been first rate...and it was!