Low water pressure question

[stinkeroo]

I have low water pressure in one faucet, the kitchen. It's not super low just lower than say the laundry sink (about 1/2 the pressure) which is nearby.

That and apparently alot of air in the water, as the hot water is very, very cloudy.

Is there possibly a leak in the line? I am on a cement slab .

Anyway, if there is a leak, how hard is it to have it fixed? I'm hearing horror stories about jack-hammering the cement to get at the water line. It's a long line though, does that mean they have to jack hammer the whole kitchen floor? It sounds like a nightmare.

How common is it for water lines to leak or whatever causing low pressure? Seems stupid to put these lines in the cement slab where they can't be accessed.

What do you all think? Thanks for any replies.

[hallerb]

Find you meter, before the last person leaves for work write down the reading, first person write it down again.

If it changed you have a leak.

Franly I think you have a obstruction to the offending fixture r a fixture trouble, are hot & cold bad or just one? Both probably means a fixture trouble. clean your aerator! The thing that screws onto the end of the faucet, incidently its there to add air, your laundry faucet wouldnt have one. If there was line work dirt and grit gets stuck in the aerator screen slowing flow a LOT>

Another possiblle problem is if you have those flexible stainless or white flexible lines, they go bad inside, the rubber detoriates and causes a partial clog.

if you have a spray wand, the diverter valve in the faucet ius a likely cause, they clog and stick.

start with the aerator, and I doubt you have a leaky line!

If you did you run PEX thru the overhead walls and cieling avioiding all or nearly all jackhammer work, so relax!

[DK]

Slow down. Nearby, you have a perfect water source, so just run a line from the perfect source to your kitchen faucet. You can do it with flex tubing and your problems are solved.

[Sacramento Dave]

I would do as mentioned Clean the aerator And once you unscrew it from the spigot run some water threw it. You should also open the valve on the fixture wide open at the same time hoping any debris blow out. One way to tell if you have a leak would be to install a PSI gauge Even at a hose Bib. then shut the main off check your pressure reading Then don't touch any fixtures in the house four a couple hours and see if you have a pressure drop. This might be a bit of work for homeowner so you might be at the point of calling a plumber. Also if it is only one fixture with a low flow problem I would suspect something besides a leak. All your fixtures would affected by a leak you would have a Flow drop in the whole system. P.S. I call it a flow problem Flow a pressure are two deferent things A pressure drop would be caused at the source for water to the house.( Low city pressure.)

[Lawrence]

I would start with the sink and the valves and then worry about the pipes. There is a valve for that line under the sink. Make sure first of all that that valve is completely open. This may fix it for you. The valve itself could be clogged. You might unhook the line at the valve and check the pressure there.

Second of all consider your fixture. If you have hard water the fixture can get clogged with crap. I have one of these super cheap fixtures in my place and when I replaced it I got a noticeable increase. If your fixture is more expensive you many be able to do a tear-down and repalacement of crudded parts.

If you are in the slab a locating service or plumber will be able to tell you with a special tool. The pipes corrode in the pad and eventually leak. Its not the end of the world but they do indeed break up the slab sometimes to fix stuff.

Very common is to re-route lines through walls and attics or just along a wall. This is easier and cheaper but not quite as nice. Plumbing has improved and if you put new plastic pipes in your slab you should have no worries. If your budget is tight then re-routing should be reasonable.

[Joseph Meehan]

As noted, it likely is just that aerator/filter that is clogged and just needs to be cleaned.

No it more than likely is does it just because the water coming in is cold and as it looses pressure coming out of the tap and has warmed up, the air is coming out. It will go back to normal in late spring or early summer. It might even go away when you clean out the aerator.

[Harry K]

That shouldn't work. Unless he has air in the system somewhere, shutting off the main essentially removes any source of 'pressure'. Shut off main, turn on faucet at the high point of the system and you should get only a very small amount of water.

Harry K

[stinkeroo]

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

I actually took the aeroator at the end of the faucet off. No change.

The wand for dishes has no water pressure, just a dribble.

I think you're right though, it's probably a fixture not a line.

There doesn't SEEM to be a leak. I don't use much water in a month. So if it is a leak it's only a couple gallons a day. But that is a good idea to check it over a weekend of something when I'm gone.

Thank you to others on this thread for the reply.