How to Deal with Low Water Pressure
Drops in home water pressure are a serious inconvenience, and one that can prevent you from even doing the simplest of daily tasks. Tired of dealing with low water pressure and looking for a solution? The certified Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky plumbing professionals at Schneller Knochelmann Plumbing, Heating & Air have the right knowledge and answers to give you a hand!
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Finding the Root of Your Issue
First up, it’s important to define whether the issue lies with a single fixture, or if it impacts your entire home. Whole-home plumbing problems are a bit more involved to fix and have a very small set of potential causes. Single fixture issues, happily, have even fewer potential causes.
Single-Fixture Low Water Pressure
Is the faucet refusing to behave or is your shower kind of just sadly spitting out a trickle? If one of these is your issue, we can go down a quick list of possibilities:
- The head is gunked. Shower heads tend to build up a bit of calcification and gunk over time, and occasionally need to be cleaned or replaced. Similarly your faucet might be having the same issue. The little round bit right at the bottom screws off of most fixtures. Inside you’ll find a bit of mesh we call an aerator. Does it look gross? Replace it! They’re quite cheap at a hardware store.
- A minor valve has gone off, or gotten adjusted. Most fixtures in your home have an at-source adjustment valve. You probably know where it is, and maybe have even used it once or twice to shut off water to a fixture. Check to be certain it hasn’t gotten nudged!
Whole-Home Problems
Is everything in your home operating at its worst? Don’t worry, we’ll have it nailed down in no time:
- The pressure reducing valve. Located near your water meter there should be a pressure gauge. Typically these are preset to operate in a specific pressure range, but these gauges do wear out over time which can lead to a drop in water pressure.
- Water main leaks. There is a “main line” that supplies water into your home. If it is clogged, cracked, or otherwise compromised then it will result in a sudden and very noticeable drop in water pressure. Main leaks are often accompanied by puddles of water on your lawn, basement flooding, and huge spikes in water bills.
Problems can also affect specifically certain sections of your home as well, rather than the entire house. In these cases the problem is nearly always an obstruction or clog in the pipes and you’ll need to call on a plumber to remedy the issue.
You can also have water pressure issues when only using hot water, in which case you can easily pin the issue on your water heater. The problem could potentially be handled by repair, but it may be wise to prepare yourself for needing a replacement.
Professional Plumbing Service in Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky
Tired of stressing over subpar water pressure? Call on our certified and licensed plumbing experts at Schneller Knochelmann Plumbing, Heating & Air! We’re equipped to bring you fast, effective repair services that put your needs first.