6 Factors that Affect Your Home’s Water Pressure

Nothing is more frustrating than hopping in your morning shower to wake yourself up, and feeling like you’ve been cheated. When your home’s water pressure is non existent or so low there might as well be no water, it’s time to take action. Low water pressure in the home is usually the result of clogged pipes or simultaneous use of two or more plumbing fixtures like kitchen sink, toilet, hose, or shower. If you’ve just moved into a new home or replaced all pipes and plumbing, it could be something as simple as checking the shutoff valves near your water meter to ensure they are fully open! If you’re sick of showering with low water pressure though, there are a few more simple tasks you can try to increase the water pressure of your house.

1. Check your Home’s water meter– Yes, it could be that simple. If the meter shows that you’ve got no water, call the City and report an issue.

1. Inefficient Shower Head- What an easy fix right? Take your showerhead off and give it a good cleaning, as well as the pipe attached to it. Unclog any gunk that could be affecting the flow of water. If that still doesn’t make a difference, look into purchasing a high-pressure showerhead at your local home improvement store.

1. Home Valves- Another seemingly simple fix, but even the smallest “off” twist from the home faucet located next to the water hose faucet outside your house can affect your water pressure and decrease the flow of water. The other valve, known as the customer valve, is in the meter box. Both should be turned completely “on” at all times. Sometimes, people turn these off by accident.
2. Check the pressure regulator – Each home has a pressure regulator connected to its pipes; it’s purpose is to control the water pressure that enters your home. The pressure regulator is responsible for ensuring the 100 PSI water coming from the city is controlled to somewhere between 50-80 PSI before it enters your home. This device saves potential damage to pipes and fixtures, but too low of PSI can cause water pressure below your standards. Call the City if you cannot find your pressure regulator and they will give you a read on what your house is working with. Use the pressure-reducing valve to adjust your PSI level if it reads lower than 40 PSI.

1. Peak Periods– It might not be something we consciously think of, but there are times during the day where more water is being used in a community than at other times. These are called “peak periods” and are usually in the mornings and at nighttime. Try to take your next shower a bit earlier tomorrow morning to see if you notice a difference!

1. Water Leaks or Damaged Pipes- In older buildings and houses, especially if built with galvanized iron pipes, mineral deposits will become a problem if they haven’t already. The problem with mineral deposits when paired with hot water and horizontal pipes is that they eventually speed up the aging process for your pipes, which inevitably will cause damage, breakage, and leaks.

How to figure out if you have a leak– No matter how big or small, if there is a leak in your water pipe, your water pressure will decrease. This can be harder to check on since your pipes are usually behind walls or underneath the sink, hidden away from plain sight. If you suspect you have a leak somewhere, or see evidence of one, use your water meter to confirm. Simply head outside to your meter, shut off both indoor and outdoor water taps, and wait for a couple hours.  If your homes water usage has increased even after you turned off all faucets, you’ve most likely got a leak on your hands. At this point, calling a professional plumber in San Diego is your best move.  professional plumber would be your best move.

Call an Expert

The basic rule of thumb for water pressure in your home is this- if you’re simply looking to fix your home’s low water pressure problem, you can try the simple things above by yourself. These easy methods are quick and relatively safe (if performed properly of course) and can in fact end up fixing your house’s low water pressure issue and saving you money. If you’re still frustrated after checking those simple things though, your best bet is to call an expert plumber in Encinitas & Escondido to come help you solve the problem without costing you an arm and a leg. You want to avoid poking around too much and making a small problem into a bigger problem that could turn dangerous quickly. Leave the big stuff like large pipe erosions, leaks, blockages, or pipe replacements to the experts at United Plumbing and you’ll be back up and running in no time.