Low water pressure can annoy you in so many ways. Imagine you are running out of time to leave for office, but faucets are taking forever to fill the bathtub. Or the water is not as free flowing from the showerhead as you would want it to be. These and many likewise, situations account frustration, and you would like to get rid of the problem at the earliest.
The first step to solve any problem is to narrow down its causes. So let’s explore what might be causing your house low water pressure.
Leaks
People take broken pipes quite casually unless the leakages are not big enough to catch their glare. Little do you know, regardless of the size of a leakage, it can cause low water pressure.
The best way to draw the conclusion of whether or not you have leaks is to check the service meter. Look at reading, notice that and don’t use water for the next couple of hours. Come back and see if the reading is showing any progress, then it means leaks are there alive and kicking.
Some places are more prone to leaks than others. You must begin the investigation by looking at the spots like:
- Under the kitchen sink
- Behind toilets
- Around faucets, tubs, and showerheads
- Water heater
Mineral deposits
If none of the above issues persists in your house, there could be very much possibility of mineral deposits stuck in your pipes. Mineral deposits are the result of hard water which contains calcium and magnesium. Our body can serve as an example of that. It is like when arteries are clogged in a human body and, as a result, it gets difficult for our blood to surface in the system at will.
This can be dealt away quite easily. You can easily repair or clean the clogged showerhead or faucets. If you don’t see a significant increase in the water pressure, replace them with new ones. Though easy to fix, mineral deposits commonly find their way back in a short period of time to frustrate your time and again.
Pressure reducing valves
Pressure reducing valves are also known as pressure regulators. Their function is to cope with the pressure of the water. They are installed at the house’s front hose connection. If the water is having uncomfortably high pressure, the regulators are used to modify that according to our whims.
Although not all the people have this regulator fixed in their house because they hardly need to adjust the pressure in the first place, those who have it might face low water pressure due to its failure. Besides, malfunctioning of pressure reducing valves can also have an inverse effect – a sudden rise in the water pressure.
Giving you the final word of caution, it could be unsafe for you to repair or fix a brand new regulator on your own without seeking any help from the professionals. You just have to say “plumbers near me” in the search engine, and a sea of skillful plumbers will be at your disposal.
Steel or iron water pipes
Among all the things that might be hindering your water pressure, this could be one the most expensive and commonly reported one. Old galvanized steel and iron pipes, at some point in their long duration, are most likely to be corroded. Naturally, this accounts for the reduction in pressure spike.
This problem usually occurs in the houses made before 1970. The reason being, back then, galvanized pipes of steel and other metals were used. Pipe corrosion does not take place all of a sudden. This process is based on years. The water pressure keeps declining until it reaches to the threshold where homeowners can take notice of that.
Now let’s get into the thick and thin of the question of why dealing with this issue is particularly expensive. According to the experts, the only way to get out of this dilemma is to re-pipe the whole system with a different pipe like that of copper or plastic.
What’s worse, if the water happens to be too alkaline, it can even potentially corrode the copper pipe. Frequent usage of hot water also paces up the corrosion process.
Shutoff valve
This valve is responsible for supplying water into the house. Turning this valve off will result in the immediate stopping of water. So in case, if the valve is nudged, make sure to turn this completely in the counterclockwise direction.
Sometimes this valve is partially closed for repair purposes and could easily be forgotten to turn on. Hence, low water pressure. To give you a better illustration, it has a wheel-like shape.
Peak times
Well, among all the technical mishaps mentioned above if nothing features in your house, then it may be just the matter using water at the wrong time. Peak times affect the water flow as much as technical issues do.
Yes, it could simply be the case of your neighbors using too much water at a given time. In such a situation, merely altering your schedule can very much do the job for you.
Conclusion
Having water at full swing adds into your comfort. Imagine you are coming from the gym all sweaty and tired. You want to take a shower so bad, but the showerhead takes a lightyear to drop the water. Frustrations like this one can easily be done away if you know what the sole cause of low water pressure is.
