Reasons Why You Are Experiencing Low Water Pressure in Your Home

I think most people realize how important water is for taking care of many duties including taking showers, doing laundry, and cleaning. It's really frustrating when one day your water pressure is somewhere around zero! You can't take a shower, wash your hair, or even clean if all you get is a thin stream of water coming out of the tap. Low water pressure happens when water comes out of the plumbing fixtures such as a showerhead or the faucets. All you get is a weak stream instead of a spray or any form of volume as it normally does.

As mentioned, when your water pressure is low, it's difficult to get anything done that involves water. You can't shower or wash your hair in a dribble of water, you can't do laundry, and it's almost impossible to wash floors. In order to repair the issue, you need to understand what causes this frustrating experience.

We will go over and explain the causes for a failure in water pressure and how you can fix the problem.

Your typical residential water system in your home is designed to function under a pressure of 40 to 70 psi. If the water pressure exceeds 100 psi, you would need a pressure regulator installed in the line to reduce this excessive pressure to keep it within the acceptable range. Doing so protects the equipment in your home from damage that will happen with excessive water pressure. The opposite is low water pressure ranging below 40 psi. If this happens you probably will need a pressure booster to bring the water back up to acceptable levels.

Also, high water pressure is wasting water and possibly rupturing your pipes, which will cause damage to the fixtures, and could seriously harm someone using the water. Wasted water is not a good outcome either. Municipalities are charging homeowners and businesses a small fortune for water consumption as well as charging consumers higher rates for the disposal of wastewater.

If you are investigating what areas of your home are being affected by low water pressure, you must observe the scope of the problem. In other words, you need to know how many plumbing fixtures are being affected by the decrease in water pressure. If you are lucky, you might discover it's only one fixture but in other cases, the pressure seems to be well below in several areas, in certain rooms, or throughout the entire house. If it's throughout your home, it could be a serious problem. This is important information you need to know to find out where the issue is located. Go around the interior as well as the exterior of your home to check every single plumbing fixture.

We are going to talk about the most common reasons why you have low water pressure so you will know what to do or whom you need to call. Also, we will be able to lead you down the right path without trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Before running around your home turning on and off valves or knocking on pipes, check with your neighbors to see if they have the same problem. If yes, there's a good chance your low water pressure is not connected to your home. You should contact your water supplier and find out if they are having issues and working on the problem. If it's something they are aware of and are in the process of fixing it, you will have to just sit back and wait. On the other hand, if they have no record of an issue or they are refusing to address it, you might have to move up a step. Little did you expect taking a shower would take a petition.

If you are the only one in your neighborhood to have an issue with low water pressure, you will have to start going around and checking all your pipes to find the culprit. It's important you know where the main house shutoff valve is located. You need to know what happens if it isn't all the way open. Unless you have gone through an emergency involving a burst pipe or leak, or you have not altered the valve in any way, then what's up?

First, find the main house shutoff valve, it may be outside but chances are it's inside where the main city supply pipe enters your home. Before there is an issue, find someone who will show you exactly where the main house shutoff valve is located. Okay, so you have found it. If it has a handle similar to the one used to turn on your hose, turn it counterclockwise as far as you possibly can. On the other hand, if the handle looks like a lever, it must be parallel to the pipe or it will not be fully open which is probably why your water pressure is so low.

While most people think clogs only take place in drains, that's just not true. Clogs can cause problems in piping and even small clogs can screw up normal flows reducing your water pressure. The problem with a clog like this, it can be located absolutely anywhere underneath your home. If this is the case, your best bet is call in a plumber.

The last thing you want to do is pull pipes apart and not have a clue how to put them back in place. Keep in mind, you might not have a clue what you are knocking loose or what you are contaminating your pipes with. Even though it's not advisable, people will throw chemicals down a drain to break up a clog, with pipes, this is something you seriously should not do. These are dangerous chemicals you would be placing in your pipes and the same pipes you drink water from! That's a very bad idea.

This is always a possibility especially if you live in an older home. Newer pipes in newer homes are not made from galvanized steel, the plumbing should be fine for many years to come but older houses haven't got that luxury. They have not been updated and probably need to have the piping overhauled.

Corrosion could be a problem if you have added plumbing fixtures to your home. It could be an extra bathroom or washing machine after the house was built.

When you start adding plumbing to a completed home you should enlarge the branch lines of your piping. If not, those areas of your pipes are working overtime and they will start corroding much faster.