What causes low water pressure?
Water pressure issues have been at an all-time high this season, affecting our surrounding communities of McLendon-Chisholm, Heath, and Royce City. Intown Plumbing wants to help you understand what that means for you, explain how this happens, and the potential issues it can cause. Let’s get started!
What does low water pressure mean?
Low water pressure is when the water stream from your plumbing fixtures, like faucets or shower heads, weakly flows out rather than flowing at normal speeds and volumes.
To remedy the situation, you need to understand the cause. In this post, we will look at several possible reasons for a loss of water pressure in your home and what you can do to address the problem.
Why do low water pressures occur?
There are several different potential causes for low water pressure. When you are investigating an issue of low water pressure in your home, you need to understand the scope of the problem. Is this affecting your entire plumbing system or is it isolated to a single faucet?
Let’s take a moment to give you a quick overview of some of the more common reasons.
High Demand on Water
In some homes, having multiple plumbing fixtures on at once can place too high of a demand on the water supply for proper water pressure to be maintained to every fixture. You may need to coordinate your water usage. For instance, when the dishwasher is in use there may be a water pressure issue if you want to take a shower, you should wait to shower until the dishwasher has finished.
City Water Restrictions
If your water supplier is experiencing water pressure problems, you might have low water pressure at home. Due to dry conditions, residents may use the water supply for outdoor watering, which may cause usage levels to exceed normal levels and affect the water flow to your home.
When there is constant pressure in city pipes, water pushes bacteria and contaminants out due to the pressure pushing on the outside of the pipe. When there is low pressure and tiny cracks in the pipes, bacteria can seep in through these cracks and contaminate your water.
When this happens, your water supplier may recommend a boil water notice to ensure any harmful contaminants are removed. Using a home water filtration system can help filter out undesired chemical compounds, organic and inorganic materials, and biological contaminants from the water before you boil it, providing an added safety layer of protection.
At Intown Plumbing, our goal is for you to have a clean, trustworthy water supply that is kind to you, your appliances, and your home. If you have any questions regarding whole house water filtration or how to choose the best filter for your home, don’t hesitate to contact us today.
Shifting of Soil
A few weeks of mid-summer drought does not do much to harm soils, but when the drought goes on for a month or more, things can go bad.
If cracks are appearing in your lawn and garden, and soil is pulling away from the foundation walls of your home, these are signs of soil compaction due to dryness in the soil. In severe cases, the dryness can shift enough soil to cause broken water mains underground, known as a slab leak.
A slab leak occurs when a water pipe leaks under a concrete slab foundation. Since the plumbing system lines are beneath the house, you may not even realize that you have a major plumbing issue developing, due to ground shifting and potentially breaking lines.
If you suspect that you are dealing with a slab leak, the first thing you need to do is call a slab leak repairs specialist. The earlier you address the problem, the less water damage you’ll have to deal with under your foundation and inside your home.
Intown Plumbing offers slab leak detection services. When it comes to slab leak repair, trust our skill and proven experience in the field.
What can you do?
If dividing your water flow is the reason you are experiencing low water pressure, then your water pressure should go back to normal when you are no longer placing such a high demand on your water flow.
In other cases where water pressure is low throughout the house, it may indicate a more serious issue in your plumbing. If you experience poor water pressure when only using one plumbing fixture at a time, then you can assume there is a problem that needs to be fixed to restore proper water pressure.
Consult a Professional
When it comes to plumbing, you do not want to neglect a problem. When you encounter plumbing problems of any kind or when you want to check your plumbing to ensure it is well-maintained, Intown Plumbing is here to serve all your water, drain & gas needs.
We specialize in all types of residential and commercial plumbing jobs. We can service the most common plumbing issues as well as your complex plumbing problems. We take pride in being master plumbers for the area. Contact us today! Call (469) 207-1400 to request an appointment or contact us online.
