A disappointing shower is no way to start your day. Luckily, there may be a quick fix to pump up the water pressure in your shower. The DIY mavens at Stack Exchange tell you how.
I recently purchased my first home. It has two bathrooms and the water pressure in both is less than ideal. What are some steps I can take to increase the pressure?
See the original question.
Scott Vercuski Answers:
This is an effective trick a plumbing contractor once told me.
Go to your local home improvement store and buy a cheap shower head (the one I picked up cost $1.50). If you look down inside of the showerhead you'll see a washer which constricts the water flow. If you take a drill and enlarge the hole, thereby increasing flow, the water pressure will increase. I didn't think it would work but it did!!
Vebjorn Ljosa Answers:
In the U.S., shower heads are required by government regulation to restrict water flow in order to save water and energy. By law, they must deliver less than 2.5 gallons per minute. For this reason, many shower heads will deliver less than ideal flow and/or pressure. To get around the law, and benefit those with less-than-stellar water pressure, many showerheads (e.g., the Waterpik I recently bought) come with instructions for removing the flow regulator. If you've discarded those instructions, a quick Google search should be all you need to figure out how to remove the flow regulator in your shower head.
Mike Powell Comments:
And even if there are no specific instructions, I've found that the regulator is often made of brightly-colored plastic that looks sort of "out of place." It's almost like it's begging to be removed. :)
Tester101 Answers:
Low pressure can be caused by old galvanized pipe, which often build up deposits causing the water to be restricted.
Another cause of low pressure can be incorrect pipe size. I like to run a 3/4" trunk line with 1/2" legs to fixtures (which I think is pretty common).
Some houses have pressure reducing valves on the supply line, which are used to control the water pressure inside the house. Here is a video explaining how to adjust this valve.
1. Start by loosening the lock nut.
2. Next, turn the adjustment screw. Turn the screw clockwise to increase pressure. Turn the screw counterclockwise to decrease the pressure.
3. Once the proper pressure is set, tighten the lock nut.
These answers all assume the pressure is low in the whole house. If it's just the shower see the other answers.
Illustration by Sean Gallagher.
Find more answers at the original post here. See more questions like this at Home Improvement, the DIY site at Stack Exchange. And of course, feel free to ask a question yourself.
uganda the parent trap invisible children kony 2012 space weather sunspots pac 12 tournament sun storm
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.