Home Water Pressure

[TubaTodd]

Now for something completely different...

I just got back from an extended weekend visiting my parents in NY. Their 40-50 year old house has AMAZING water pressure. This is true of ever faucet and the shower. It is awesome. At my < 10 year old house in Alabama, the water pressure is easily 50% as powerful (across the board)....or even less. Why? Is there anything I can do to my home to increase the pressure?

[Dan Schultz]

The first think you need to do is determine if you have a pressure or a flow problem. They are two different things. The flow from an outside hydrant or garden hose will give you a pretty good indication of what you might be able to expect inside your house. Do you get a sudden 'burst' when you turn the hose on and then it diminishes somewhat? If so... you probably have a flow problem. There may be an obstruction inside your water service. If you turn the hose on and it continues to flow fully... you might still have a pressure problem. You can only check the pressure by hooking up a pressure guage.

If you determine that you have adequate flow and pressure into your house... then you'll have to begin the task of checking out all the devices one at a time. Low flow or pressure at a single device could mean a calcium build-up.

You could install a pump and holding tank but if you don't have the flow to support it... that will be a waste of money.

[bort]

Or move to New York.

[Donn]

More relevant comparison would be pressure at your house, vs. your neighbors'. Likely everyone's in the same boat, but if not ... might want to check your water meter, you wouldn't be the first to have a leak.

[thezman]

Or you cold have a low pressure waterhead. Replacing it with a high-pressure or high-flow rate head should fix the problem.

[bort]

...40-50 year old house...[versus]...< 10 year old house...

My guess is that your house was built (or your city water supply may regulate) some level of "efficiency" requirements that your parents old house does not. Back in the 60s/70s, building codes were different, and saving water probably wasn't exactly high on the list (nor did they have they have the same technology available when your house was built)...especially if they don't live in a water-scarce area.

I'll bet your house is more energy efficient and has better electrical wiring though!

[MikeW]

I have noticed that most of my taps (faucets ?) have "aerators" which appear to use a restrictor plate with only a very small hole (about 1 mm) for the water to flow through. The tap in the laundry has no aerator, and runs a whole lot faster.
You can tell the difference because if you hold a spoon under an aerated tap while it is running, nothing much happens, but if you hold it under a non=aerated tap, water sprays everywhere (Have fun). If you can get rid of the aerators, your water may flow better.

The shower head is a different story: Some states ban the sale of any type of shower head except the "water-miser" (at least that's what they told me in the hardware store in Vernon, Washington). I changed the head anyway, and even the water-miser was an improvement - seems the head had got kinda clogged up when they were changing the pump in the well.

[oldbandnerd]

Definitly compare your water pressure to your neighbors. That will tell all. The age of your parents has little to do with it. They may be very close to a pumping station,the water tower that supplies them or at the bottom of a hill so the water gets a little extra help from gravity.
MikeW is right about checking all of your areators. Water saving faucet heads are code almost everywhere now and you house isn't that old.
I used to travel a lot and stayed in a lot of cheap motels. I figured out that some of these "budget" motels ere big on the water saving shower heads. I used to remove the shower heads and pull out the little disc that was restricting the water while I was using the room and put it back when I left. The water pressure would be so poor you could hardly wash yourself. At one point I even went out and bought a cheap shower head to carry with me and would exchange it for their "water saving" one while I was there . It only cost me $10.00 to do that.

[TubaTodd]

I took apart the shower head in the master bath. It is one of those removable variety with a bunch of settings and a flexible hose. I removed the flow restrictor and the badly damaged/clogged airrator. Now the shower head is super powerful, although not quite as powerful as my parents' shower. That's progress.