Identifying The Cause Of Low Water Pressure In Your Home

The average household uses around 300 gallons of water every day without much thought about where it comes from or what to do if something goes wrong.

What to Do If Your House Loses Water Pressure

If your water stops or it won’t heat up, you’ll probably call a plumber out and get it fixed. But what if you just lose water pressure? This is a relatively minor problem, which people tend to ignore for a while before getting it sorted.

That’s not a good idea because, in some cases, low water pressure can be an indication of a much bigger problem. If you have low water pressure in your home, these are some of the things that could be causing it.

Damaged Pipes 

If there is a leak in one of your pipes and you’re losing a lot of water, this can have an impact on the water pressure. It’s likely that it is only a small leak if the water is still running, but now is the time to act because it will only get worse. If you investigate and work out the source of the leak as soon as you notice a drop in water pressure, you should be fine.

But if you just ignore it, the leak will continue to get bigger until, eventually, the pipe bursts. Then you’ll be paying for an emergency plumber and dealing with severe water damage to the home. That’s why dealing with leaks straight away is top of our list of the most important home maintenance tips. 

Damaged pipes can also be caused by pests like rats or mice, so it’s vital that you check for an infestation if you notice a difference in your water pressure because, again, this is a problem that will only get worse when ignored.

You can get some great SMART rodent control systems that will monitor your home and pick up on signs of pests. This is a great solution that allows you to get rid of them before they start chewing through your pipes. 

Blockages 

The pipes might not be damaged, but there is a strong chance that they are blocked. People assume that blockages only happen in the drains but they can appear anywhere, and when they do, they will slow the water pressure right down.

The difficulty is working out where the blockage is before you can clear it out because it could be anywhere in the system. If you’re struggling, you will need a plumber to help you. 

Faulty Fixtures 

People often get caught up trying to find damaged or blocked pipes and they don’t consider that the problem could be with the fixture rather than the pipes. The good news is, it’s pretty easy to tell if this is the case.

If you get low water pressure from your bathroom faucet but it is fine in the rest of the house, you know that it’s just the fixture and you should replace it. You only need to start investigating the pipes if the problem is throughout the house. It might actually be your water heater that’s causing all the problems, however, and this is not something you should try to fix by yourself. Instead, you’ll need to talk to a water heater specialist to solve the problem.

 

Once you are able to diagnose the cause of your low water pressure, it should be fairly easy to fix.