Troubleshooting Low Water Pressure
Low water pressure can severely reduce the performance and efficiency of your home's water using appliances, and can make doing simple tasks like washing the dishes and taking a shower much more inconvenient. There are a multitude of different reasons which can cause low water pressure throughout your home's plumbing, each of which can be fixed in a fairly straightforward manner.
Fixing Faucet Low Water Pressure
If only a single faucet in your home is suffering from low water pressure, the issue usually lies with a clog in the tap's aerator. This is the small filter like piece that is screwed to the underside of the faucet. This clog is almost always attributed to a buildup of a chalky white substance that is made out of calcium and other minerals, which is caused by hard water in your home's water supply. To fix this, you can fill a sandwich bag with vinegar and secure it over the mouth of the faucet using an elastic band. Let it sit overnight to dissolve the buildup. In order to prevent this from occurring in the future, you may want to contact a plumber to have a water softener installed in your home.
Fixing Showerhead Low Water Pressure
Showerheads can also be affected negatively by hard water, with the same buildup reducing overall water flow in the shower. You'll want to unscrew your showerhead (most models can do this by turning the entire head counter-clockwise) and leave it soaking in an acidic mixture to remove the buildup. While a vinegar and warm water mixture, as noted above, can probably dissolve minor clogs, for large amounts of buildup (which is more common in showerheads, due to a greater amount of water passing through the fixture), you may want to use an acidic commercial cleaner instead, like drain cleaner.
Fixing Entire Plumbing System Low Water Pressure
However, if the low water pressure issue is not isolated to a single showerhead or a single faucet, the problem may instead lie with your water supply. This means that the problem is regional in nature, and your neighbors likely suffer from low water pressure as well. In order to alleviate this problem, you should contact a plumber about installing a pressure booster system. These boosters (which vary in price depending on the size of your home) are installed on your home's water main and will increase the amount of pressure with which water flows throughout your entire plumbing system, eliminating all further water pressure problems in the future.
Contact a plumbing company, like Milford Plumbing & Heating, for more help.
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