Low Water Pressure

[Rslaugh]

The 1 month bathroom project that took 4 months is now, for all practical purposes, done. Water pressure for the shower is very low. I have a temporary hot water connection that I know contributes to this and will work on over the next few days. I also want to replumb the water heater. the supply line is 1/2" that tees off of a 3/4" line. It's output is also 1/2".

Anyone have any idea how much those changes will affect the water pressure downstream? If it is still weak what are the alternatives? Is there some kind of booster pump I can put in the system?

[reddog552]

water flow

Im assuming you water pressure is good in the rest of the house.I ran into the same problem wen redoing my shower,the new shower controls were"water saver units" could not get a good shower. I ended up drilling the feed holes bigger ,DELTA one handle control.I dont understand how you can save water if theres not enough flow to shower propperly. WHAT do you guys think on this.

[Stytooner]

I have seen and used those water saver types. To me a shower not only gets you cleaned up, it is invigorating as well. At least a good hot one is. A low or insufficient water supply in the shower defeats half the purpose of why I choose a shower sometimes. Might as well stand out in the rain.

If you have pressure available and it is good in the rest of the house, it may be the type fixture you have. Most tubs and showers I have seen are piped with 1/2" at the most. 1/2" is capable of delivering a good shower.

[Uncle Cracker]

Unless your pressure was already on life support, that 1/2" pipe won't hurt. I'm sure it's a water saver feature somewhere, either in your shower valve, or in the shower head itself. Sometimes, the feature is made intentionally so you can disable or remove it, other times not. Hope you got lucky.

[Popeye]

Normal main feed lines throughout the house are 3/4" and are not reduced till just before a fixture, then they go to 1/2". A long run of 1/2" will kill water volume.
And like the others said, water saving fixtures will ruin a good shower. I'm using a shower head that I gave my parents in 1974. My oldest son wants me to put it in my will Pat

[jonmulzer]

Take off your showerhead and carefully disassemble the ball and socket joint that provides the swivel function for it. They are usually fragile connections and the ring is very thin and soft metal so be easy on the channel locks or whatever you use to take it apart. Once you get it apart you will probably notice that the hole that allows water to flow into the showerhead is very small. Push the joint back together by hand and wiggle it around to full articulation in every direction and that should give you some idea how large you can drill the hole without messing up a new showerhead. I usually find that 3/8" works well, but double-check. A drill press works best for enlarging the hole, but it can be done with a handheld drill if you are careful and use some oil for a cutting fluid. Try to get your vise around the ball because the threaded portion deforms easily. After drilling clean up with some sandpaper and reassemble and give it a try.

There also may be a flow restrictor in the spray unit itself. I have always been lucky and find that I can discard the piece. Usually just a flat plastic plate of some sort. As always, YMMV and check local rules and regulations on the legality of this just in case they ever come check your showerhead, blah, blah, blah, lol.

[eccentrictinkerer]

Around here, homes are usually plumbed with 1/2", except for hose bibb and water heater primary lines.

With local codes requiring 2.5 gal/minute flow rate, you could probably use 3/8" and get 2.5 gpm.

I routinely remove the restricting disk from shower heads for my customers - at their request.

When we bought an existing catering kitchen 12 years ago the city made us re-plumb the entire facility with 3/4".

I showed them that all fixtures were restricted to 2.5 gpm flow rate and that 3/8" would work just as well, they said, "we don't care, change it all out to 3/4"".

[BigguyZ]

Especially considering how cheap PEX is- if I had to re-plumb my house I'd go with 3/4". I have the same issue about water being cut off downstream... I'm thinking about one of those pressure boosters that cost $300 or so. Maybe next time I have the $$ and HF has a 20% off coupon... .

But anyways, I never got to fluid dynamics in my engineering courses, but it'd make sense to me that teh larger capacity of 3/4" wouldn't have as much of a leeching effect with the fixtures being on upstream....

[williwatt]

When I was experiencing low water pressure at my kitchen sink, the culprit was the Delta faucet. When installing a repair kit made little difference, I replaced the faucet and the pressure was restored. The Price Pfister pullout faucet that I picked up at Lowes for $65 on clearance (retail = $237) works like a charm.

There actually is a low flow shower head that produces good water pressure at 1.5 gpm because it does not use a restrictor, but was designed to give good pressure with low flow.

http://jet-streamshowerhead.net/work.html

[Uncle Cracker]

One word of caution: Before everybody starts drilling out their shower heads to 10gpm, take a minute to think about the size of your water heater (unless cold showers appeal to you)...

[eccentrictinkerer]

One word of caution: Before everybody starts drilling out their shower heads to 10gpm, take a minute to think about the size of your water heater (unless cold showers appeal to you)...

When my three daughters still lived at home, our water heater couldn't keep up.

I drilled a 5/32nd" hole thriugh a dime and stuck it next to the rubber washer in the shower head stem. It worked like a charm and it's still there!

We get a nice brisk shower stream and save a bunch of $$ .

[pelligrini]

Man, I wish I would have thought about that one!

In lot of our remodels, the clients want to do showers with multiple heads, rain heads, shower towers, and all. I always have to advise them that the plumbing will have to be upsized for that whole branch and we'll need more hot water capacity, etc. It ain't that simple as just adding another head or two.

[jonmulzer]

One word of caution: Before everybody starts drilling out their shower heads to 10gpm, take a minute to think about the size of your water heater (unless cold showers appeal to you)...

This is true and a good point. At that time I had a massive gas water heater and it was just me and a male roommate. Now that my gf is living with me at this place, if I did that I would never get a hot shower again........

[Rslaugh]

Thanks for all the replies. While there is decent flow in the first floor I wouldn't call it stellar. I'd like to find a guage to tell me what the actual pressure is. It was almost 100# at my last house where there was a guage because of the sprinklers. I'm going to look around on ebay.

I've already drilled out the restrictor on my first floor shower and I would rate the flow there adaquate but barely. I think to be satisfied I'm going to have to put a booster in. Has anyone done this?

[Bill in Buena Park]

One word of caution: Before everybody starts drilling out their shower heads to 10gpm, take a minute to think about the size of your water heater (unless cold showers appeal to you)...

I had to laugh when I read this! I recently replaced one of my showerheads with one of those "Aquadyne" deals that is basically a shower head on a hose. Didn't catch the GPM on it - must be at least 5 GPM, as it will drain my 40gal water heater in a little less than 10 minutes...