Why Is the Water Pressure Low in My House?

First, Figure Out Where It's Weak

Before you change anything, turn on a few faucets around the house, one at a time. Then try hot and cold on their own. What you notice tells you where to look.

• Just one faucet or shower. The trouble is at that fixture, and it's usually an easy fix.
• Only the hot water, everywhere. Look at the water heater and the pipes right around it.
• Every faucet, hot and cold. Something is slowing the water before it spreads through the house, like a valve, a regulator, a leak, old pipe or the City's main.

One more quick test helps a lot. Run the outdoor spigot. It has no screen inside, so if it gushes while the sinks barely flow, the problem is inside the house. If even the spigot is weak, look closer to the meter.

When It's Only One Faucet or Shower

The tip of most faucets has a small screen called an aerator. Bits of grit and white mineral crust collect there and choke the flow, especially after the water has been shut off for a repair.

• Unscrew the aerator from the end of the faucet, rinse the screen and look for grit. If it's crusted white, soak it in vinegar for an hour, then put it back.
• On a pull-out kitchen faucet, take the spray head off and run the water. If it flows hard without the head, the screen or the little check valve inside the head is the problem.
• Soak a weak showerhead in vinegar the same way, or just replace it.
• Look at the two small valves under the sink. A storage bin or the hose of a pull-out faucet can bump one partly closed. Turn each one all the way open.

If the screen is clean and the valves are open, the cartridge inside the faucet may be clogged. That's common on single-handle faucets, and it often shows up on the hot side first. Shower valves have a similar part that balances hot and cold, and it can stick. Both can be replaced, but the new part has to match the brand of faucet. Book a faucet repair or shower and tub repair if you'd rather not take the handle apart.

When Only the Hot Water Is Weak

If the cold side is strong at every tap but the hot side is weak everywhere, the slowdown is at the water heater. A few things cause it.

• The valve on the cold pipe going into the heater is partly closed.
• The fittings on top of an older tank rust inside and narrow, so less water gets out.
• Sediment from the bottom of the tank gets pulled into the hot line, often after the water was shut off.
• A tankless heater has a small screen where the water comes in, and it can build up scale inside. Both slow the flow.

Make sure the valve on the heater is fully open. Past that, the fittings and the tank need a plumber. If the heater is also making less hot water than it used to, look into water heater repair in Valdosta before it gets worse.

When Every Faucet Is Weak

Weak water all over the house has a short list of causes. Go through them in this order, from the easiest to check to the hardest.

1. Ask a neighbor. If their taps are weak too, the cause is probably out in the street, like a broken main or crews working on the City's lines. Outages and repair work show up on the City's website and Facebook page. If nothing is listed, report it to City of Valdosta Utilities.
2. Think about what just happened. Pressure that dropped right after the City worked on the lines, or after your own water was shut off, often means grit got knocked loose. Clean the faucet screens, then run the tub and the outdoor spigot for a few minutes to flush the pipes. If the spigot is still weak, something may be stuck in the meter. The meter belongs to the City, so ask them to check it.
3. Check your main valve. After a repair, it's easy to leave it partly closed. Turn it all the way open. Not sure where it is? Here's how to find your main valve.
4. Check the softener or filter. A whole-house filter packed with grit, or a water softener stuck partway through its cycle, can slow every tap at once. Most softeners have a bypass valve. Switch it to bypass, and if the pressure comes back, the softener or its filter is the cause.
5. Look for a pressure-reducing valve. Some homes have one where the main pipe comes in. It's a bell-shaped brass valve that keeps strong street pressure from wearing out your plumbing. They wear out too, and one that fails partly closed can turn the whole house into a dribble. It has an adjusting screw, but a worn-out valve needs replacing, not adjusting.
6. Rule out a leak. Water leaking out before it reaches your faucets takes pressure with it. Turn off every faucet and appliance, then watch the meter for a few minutes. If its small dial or triangle keeps turning, water is going somewhere, and a water bill that suddenly jumped points the same way. A soggy patch of yard between the meter and the house points to the water line from the meter.
7. Think about the pipes. Old galvanized steel pipe rusts on the inside and slowly closes up, so the pressure fades over years instead of all at once. It's worst when two faucets run at the same time. Plenty of homes built before about 1960 still have some, including many older Westside houses. The fix is replacing the worst runs or repiping the house.

Check the Pressure With a Gauge

A pressure gauge that screws onto an outdoor spigot costs very little at a hardware store, and it takes the guessing out. With every faucet in the house off, screw it on, open the spigot and read the number.

• Most plumbers like to see somewhere around 40 to 60 psi.
• Under about 40 psi, faucets and showers start to feel weak.
• Over 80 psi is too high. Georgia's plumbing code calls for a pressure-reducing valve at that point, because high pressure wears out faucets, toilet parts and water heaters.

Now have someone turn on a faucet inside while you watch the needle. A small dip is normal. If it drops a lot, the pipes can't carry enough water.

That matters, because pressure and flow aren't the same thing. The gauge can show a healthy number while water still dribbles out, since narrow pipe lets pressure through but not much water. If the gauge looks fine and the taps are still weak, the City probably isn't the problem. Something inside the house is.

If Your Home Is on a Well

Plenty of homes with a Valdosta address get their water from a private well. There's no City main involved, so the pressure comes from your well pump and the pressure tank, the big tank the pump fills.

The gauge near the tank shows what the system is doing. The pump should switch on when the needle falls to a low setting, often around 30 or 40, and shut off about 20 higher. Watch it while someone runs a faucet.

• If the pressure dips and the pump clicks on and off over and over, the tank may have lost its air charge.
• If the needle falls and the pump never comes on, check that its breaker hasn't tripped.
• A sediment filter near the tank clogs over time. A fresh cartridge can bring the flow right back.
• Pressure that slowly gets weaker over months can mean a worn pump or a problem down in the well.

Anything past the filter, like the pump, the pressure switch or the wiring, is work for a pro who does well pump repair.

When Weak Pressure Is Worth a Call

Some of these checks take five minutes and cost nothing. Others need tools, parts or digging. It's time to call when any of these is true.

• The faucet screens are clean and the valves are open, but the whole house is still weak.
• The meter keeps moving with all the water off, or there's a wet spot in the yard.
• The gauge reads under 40 or over 80, or jumps around.
• The hot side stays weak after you've checked the valve on the water heater.
• You have old galvanized pipe and the pressure keeps getting worse.
• Your well pump runs nonstop, keeps clicking on and off, or won't come on.