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Plumbers: Household Water pressure question

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StefenD001

Active Member
Dec 10, 2014
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Family member reports water pressure in Master Bath shower and kitchen sink appear diminished recently. Here's what I've done so far:

-Checked water pressure with valve on laundry tub in home: its 50. This is consistent with neighbors readings. Supposedly acceptable range is 40-60. I don't want to increase it more to risk hoses/pipes/washers leaking/bursting.
-checked screens/heads in shower and kitchen. Clean. Shower head less than 2 years old.
-no outside hoses are left on or are outwardly/overtly exhibiting leaks
-no leaks in home on hot water heater, water softener, pipes etc.
-our toilet tanks (1.6gpf) take about 75 seconds to fill post flush. (No bricks in tank or cups around hole in tank to conserve more water).
-so...no visible leaks inside or outside.

What am I missing?
 
How long does it take to fill a one gal container at your sink?
Did you remove the shower head and check flow in the piping?
 
TiredOldLion said:
How long does it take to fill a one gal container at your sink?
Did you remove the shower head and check flow in the piping?
Click to expand...

Did not remove shower head. Good thought. I will hook the gauge to it.

Takes 40 seconds to fill a gallon container at the sink.
 
StefenD001 said:
Did not remove shower head. Good thought. I will hook the gauge to it.

Takes 40 seconds to fill a gallon container at the sink.
Click to expand...
Reduced flow in the shower head can be resolved by soaking the head in a couple of inches of cleaning vinegar to remove any calcium scale. If that doesn’t work, you’ll need to enlarge the hole in the flow restrictor with a drill bit slightly larger than the exiting hole.

The kitchen faucet might also have a flow restrictor installed. You can either remove it or enlarge the hole.
 
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I do this for a living and put booster pumps on city water to gain 70 lbs of pressure in the house. Look in you toilet tank to see if there is sediment from your piping from the city water. This will tell you if its a sediment problem Most of the time it's just your fixtures themselves since you you these most often. They can become clogged up with sediment and grit which slows down the water to each specific faucet, shower head. TURN OFF water to each specific faucet to relief pressure. Then take apart faucet and shower VALVE quite simple using a screw driver and pliers. Pull out pin and remove white cartridge. You can either clean it or replace it and at the same time flush out sediment you see. Put back together and test for leaks. Supply lines also trap sediment restricting water flow.
 
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A kitchen sink should flow better than two gallons per minute.
If there is a restriction in the feed, the initial flow will be greater than the flow after a minute or so.
Since the lower flow is seen at multiple outputs that are probably plumbed in parallel you need to look closer to the source.
If there is a well pump, you may have an internal vane issue that could allow some of the water to stay in the housing instead of 100% thru flow.
I hope it’s simpler than that.
Remember that high pressure as you are measuring isn’t directly related to flow rate. Making static pressure measurements when you are concerned about flow may be misleading.
 
Had this happen to me about 6 months ago. Called plumber to check master bath. There was buildup in the pipe. The house is about 24 years old, the shower is tile, and the fixtures were made prior to the law change requiring a mixer (I think that’s what it’s called - prevents using strictly hot water).

Aside from ripping the shower tile out, the only option was to put hole in wall behind shower and replace then add a new plate. Total cost was about $700. I was quoted $1100 so I wasnt too upset.

Edit: this was just in my shower.
 
My standard contribution when I have no idea about the subject



7loyt.jpg
 
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nitanee123 said:
Had this happen to me about 6 months ago. Called plumber to check master bath. There was buildup in the pipe. The house is about 24 years old, the shower is tile, and the fixtures were made prior to the law change requiring a mixer (I think that’s what it’s called - prevents using strictly hot water).

Aside from ripping the shower tile out, the only option was to put hole in wall behind shower and replace then add a new plate. Total cost was about $700. I was quoted $1100 so I wasnt too upset.

Edit: this was just in my shower.
Click to expand...

One other note about the shower in the master bath. We had the old builders grade shower stall removed and replaced Dec2016-Jan2017. The pipes were replaced from the floor up to the shower head before closing in the wall. So, not only is the shower head new. So is all the pipe from the floor up to new shower head. It didn't build up in 19 years prior. Could it build up in the 20 months since?
 
TiredOldLion said:
A kitchen sink should flow better than two gallons per minute.
If there is a restriction in the feed, the initial flow will be greater than the flow after a minute or so.
Since the lower flow is seen at multiple outputs that are probably plumbed in parallel you need to look closer to the source.
If there is a well pump, you may have an internal vane issue that could allow some of the water to stay in the housing instead of 100% thru flow.
I hope it’s simpler than that.
Remember that high pressure as you are measuring isn’t directly related to flow rate. Making static pressure measurements when you are concerned about flow may be misleading.
Click to expand...

The kitchen faucet is one of those new Moen with the pullout faucet with a hose. So, the water not only goes through the supply line but a long hose as well. Does that make a difference on your 2 gallon per minute assessment?
 
PeetzPoolBoy said:
Per the link you provided, that is a “low flow” faucet (1.5 gallons per minute max @ 60 psi). You need to check the cartridge filter for debris and remove the flow restrictor.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. I did not realize that. So, if I'm getting a gallon in 40 seconds it's probably working as documented. Right?
 
StefenD001 said:
Hmmm. I did not realize that. So, if I'm getting a gallon in 40 seconds it's probably working as documented. Right?
Click to expand...
Yes, but you can still increase the flow significantly by enlarging the hole in the flow restrictor or removing it entirely. Go Google “how to remove flow restrictor from a Moen faucet” and you’ll find a number of instructional videos such as the one below.

For the shower head, I would first try enlarging the hole in the restrictor with a drill bit. If you remove the flow restrictor entirely from the shower head, you might get too much flow.

 
Last edited:
Every time I've had low water flow its been one of those screen filters at the tip of the faucet. Test the flow with any filters removed.
 
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