FAQs about how to fix poor water pressure traced to clogs, pipe diameter, or clogged water supply piping.

This article series describes How to Cure Bad Water Pressure Due to Clogged Water Supply Pipes. The process of diagnosis and the costs of the repair are explained.

Clogged Water Supply Piping / Poor Water Pressure & Flow Repair FAQs

These questions and answers about improving poor water pressure or flow traced to clogged piping were posted originally

at CLOGGED SUPPLY PIPES, REPAIR - be sure to review that article.

Sketches courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates, a Toronto home inspection, education, & reporting tool firm.

Article Index

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Good Water Flow at Kitchen Only; how do I solve this?

I have a problem I have flow to the kitchen tap and garden house at the kitchen window but does not go the rest of the house the entry point for mains is at the kitchen reason why I seem to have flow there.

The water doesn't go to the header tank in the attic. The house had all plastic pipes going to the house it is also plastic too. Is there any way of solving this? Or do I have a blockage? On 2019-11-17 by Anthony

by (mod) - lost water pressure in part of building: clog or blockage vs. weak incoming water pressure

Anthony:

1. If you have good water flow in part of a building and none elsewhere then yes it seems likely that there is a valve that's closed or a valve, elbow, or section of piping that's blocked.

Typically a plumber will go to the first valve or elbow that's downstream from the last point where pipes are successfully supplying water, and will begin exploring valves and if finding nothing there will cut open and examine pipes near the first elbow.

2. Please show me a photo of the "header tank" in the attic.

Is this a water pressure tank that's supposed to be feeding the rest of the home?

If so is it the case that the water in the kitchen tap and outdoor hose spigot are the only outlets on a first floor and all other plumbing is on upper floors?

If so then the problem could be a water delivery pressure issue not a pipe blockage.

If that is the case you may need a water pressure booster pump.

See WATER PRESSURE BOOSTER PUMPS 

Weak hot water at just one fixture: what's wrong?

Have low hot water pressure to the bathtub only, good water pressure to the rest of the house? On 2019-10-12 by Rick

Advice by (mod) -

Rick

Assuming you've ruled out the obvious like a clogged or partly closed hot water supply valve,

Let's start with the diagnostics at

HOT WATER PRESSURE IMPROVEMENT

No water out of three of my hot water taps and a trickle out of one

I am getting no water out of three of my hot water taps and a trickle out of one. I presume there is a (partial) blockage some where. Is there a reasonably simple way of getting rid o it? On 2019-08-18 1 by Paul Waters -

by (mod) - how to quickly diagnose lost or weak hot water pressure

Diagnosing weak hot water flow is found in two InspectApedia articles, Paul

HOT WATER PRESSURE LOSS
and

HOT WATER PRESSURE IMPROVEMENT

Please review those pages and let me know what you find or what questions remain.

You'll see that the general approach to a loss of hot water pressure involves

1. identify how hot water is produced; for example if it's a tankless coil or tankless water heater mineral scale may be blocking water flow while if hot water is made by a conventional water heater tank (calorifier, geyser, hot water cylinder) there may be a blocked dip tube or outlet or inlet

2. follow the hot water piping: if all fixtures have weak or no hot water flow the blockage is near or at the water heater itself

3. open or disassemble stop valves that may be blocked

4. if those steps don't find the blockage it may be useful to actually cut into the hot water line at intervals to find the blocked pipe or elbow or fitting that is then cut out and the line repaired.

Poor water flow indoors, good outdoors; how do I confirm it's the house piping?

I have low flow in the house. Outside hose bibs have good flow. Before I spend thousands, I would like to confirm that the galvanized pipes under neath the house are the culprit. I am thinking that it could maybe just be the one pipe going into the house that is clogged or coroded. I noticed that whoever put it in they used gas pipe, as opposed to water.

And yes, I know its the water supply, not gas, cuz its leaking a little water from where it comes up off the ground. My plan is to remove the elbow joining the water suppply pipe with pipe going into the house, putting in a hose bib where the elbow was, twist on a water hose, and open the water hose with bib on and open the fixtures in the house and see if any improvements.

So in other words, by passing te piece of bad pipe I suspect might be culprit. Does this sound reasonable plan, any other suggestions? I would really appreciate any feed back. So new to all this . Thanks On 2019-02-26 by Frank

Suggestions by (mod) -

Frank thanks for asking you a great question. I think that if you can find a water outlet such as an outdoor hose spigot that is very close to the water entry point in your home and if you find terrific flow there that would be a pretty good pointer to the pipes in the rest of the building.

I agree that this sounds like a debris in water and pipe clogging problem. Am I going to well driller to run a camera down the well to see if the casing is damaged because that would explain the presence of silt or dirt in the well. Or the foot valve may be too close to the bottom.

If water pressure is good at the point of delivery to the house then you probably have clogged pipes and possibly a water heater. May be possible to flush those out if it's just to Bri and not scale.

 

Only our cold water flow is weak; what's wrong?

We have seen a change in cold water flow first in our washing machine, and now in a bathroom close by. We had the water pressure checked and it is ok.

We replaced the aerators and the feeder line to the washer- no change.

How do you find out what is wrong, if an acid wash is recommended as noted below, and someone who actually does that kind of work? On 2018-06-27 by Carla

Suggestion by (mod) -

If cold water flow rate is poor only at the washer the problem is local, not a system issue.

I would not risk trying to acid wash the clothes washer itself.

I would pull out the washer, remove the feed hose to the cold side (turn water off and relieve pressure first), then I'd inspect the connection at the washing machine hook-up.

Often there is a second debris screen (besides one that may be on the washing machine hose) in the washer hookup hose connection. That screen can become debris clogged. Take a look and if there is a clogged screen, replace it.

Keep us posted.

How do we unclog the pipe between house and well? What's "reverse flow"?

My well service inspected my well pump and pressure tank for low volume if water after recovery from pressure below 40psi at pressure tank and he says I have blockage from we'll head to house. How do I clear that? He recommended reverse flow. How do I do that? On 2018-04-14 by Gary Reinbold

Solution by (mod) -

You connect a pump and water source to the the intake pipe from the well and pump backwards - something that won't work if your well uses a foot valve or check valve in that piping loop. More likely you'll need to pull the pump and pipe from the well.

How do we fix clogging pipes due to iron and sulfur?

Hi, i am new to a home that has well water. I had someone come out and test the water and it read .9 in iron and sulfate. We hardly have any water pressure and no cold water comes out of any faucet or tub or washer pipes and now one of our toilets quit working. The landlord has been here twice in a month to blow out the lines but nothing is working and we even have a water softener.. I really dont know what to do. On 2017-09-19 by Stephanie

Suggestions by (mod) -

It's quite possible that the piping or maybe just portions of it are clogged with mineral and iron deposits.

"Blowing out" such lines won't repair them; a plumber can sometimes clear such lines with a (dangerous) acid treatment, else pipes are replaced, and in all events a suitable water treatment system is installed to protect the system from re-clogging.

A water softener won't fix water that's high in iron or sulphur (sulfates).

Those can clog pipes; blowing out with air cannot fix hard scale clogging in water pipes from hard water, iron deposits, or other scale formations. Sometimes a plumber can acid-wash pipes (a dangerous procedure not for DIY'ers). Or she will replace the badly clogged sections and will recommend a suitable water treatment system.

Before calling the plumber be sure that there is no simple water filter canister that's clogged.

So what's needed are

A water test to understand accurately what's in the water

A water treatment system to remove those problem substances, probably an iron and sulfur removal system. But don't buy treatment equipment before we know what needs to be treated.

Can I clean rather than replace a 110 year old clogged water line from street to house?

We're in a 1915 guest house. The line from the meter to our house (175' down hill) is 3/4". Water pressure has slowed drastically.

I'm told I need to replace water line from street to house. Is there anything that can be done to blow out, clean out line instead of replacing line? On 2017-06-06 by Anonymous

Suggestions by (mod) -

It might be possible to clean the line of scale deposits by using an acid wash. That's something to discuss with your plumber.

But really if we're talking about a clogged hundered-year-old water line, most likely that'd be throwing money down into the ground.

Replace the old water line.

How do we clean sand out of our pipes after a well cave-in?

Our well just had a small cave in and clogged up our aerator and some of the incoming water pipes to the house. Some are okay, but others are running very slowly. How can we get the sand out of the pipes? On 2017-04-05 by Faye

Suggestions by (mod) -

I think I would start by investigating the real cave in. For example if you have a damage to casing it will not be possible to clear the plumbing system before fixing the casing since more sand or soil will simply continue to enter your water supply.

Once that's fixed you should be able to remove aerators open faucets and flush the piping system. However saying has entered your pressure to it may need to be disassembled or even replaced

How to fix bad cold water pressure on some floors of my London home after Thames Water changed the valve at the street

I had low pressure on the cold water supply on the first and second floors of my house.

Thames water changed the valve in the street and the pressure on the ground floor has improved but the first and second floor have got worse! Please help! On 2017-03-29 by Katy

Suggestions by (mod) -

Katy

When work is done on plumbing systems often there is some debris released in the pipes.

Try removing faucet strainers and shower heads, then flush the faucets - if you see good pressure that's the problem and all that remains to be done is to clean the debris from the strainers and shower heads.

Let me know hot that works for you

Water pipe found clogged by iron and red silt; filter clogs up quickly; how do I stop this?

My house was built in 2006, water pressure was fine till last spring [lots of rain]. I replaced 3/4' cpvc from bladder to house filter. line was full of iron ? red and silky. Filter needed replaced again after 36 days , didnt have this problem before. what can I do to stop the build up? On 2016-01-14 by Robert

Suggestions by (mod) -

Check the well casing for cracks or damage or leaks into the well; using a contractor who has a well bore inspection camera check the whole well bore; if the casing is damaged it may be repairable using a well sleeve.

If your water pump is a 2 line jet pump, it's also possible to pick up mud and dirt through a leak in the well pipe suction line.

Also be sure to tTest your water for potability to be sure it's safe to drink;

Temporarily, until you find and fix the silt and mud source, you can consult with a water treatment company about a higher capacity silt filter.

Hot water quickly slows to a trickle

live in old run down farm. no hot water checked water tank everything is ok. turned on hot water tap. vanity starts good pressure the ebbs to a trickle sometimes hot. can anyone tell mee or direct me to the problem? thanks! On 2015-07-11 by john

Diagnosis by (mod) -

If the flow issue is ONLY with hot water then I'd look for a clog anywhere in the hot water piping between water heater tank inlet and the end plumbing fixtures.

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Continue reading  at CLOGGED SUPPLY PIPES, DIAGNOSIS - topic home, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Also see CLOGGED SUPPLY PIPES, DIAGNOSTIC FAQs

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• PEX BRASS CONNECTOR LEAKS where we discuss corrosion build-up in brass elbows & tees that can clog PEX piping systems.
• WATER PRESSURE BOOSTER PUMP
• WATER QUANTITY IMPROVEMENT - steps to increase well yield or other means to improve water flow into the well itself

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CLOGGED SUPPLY PIPES, REPAIR FAQs-2 at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

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