No shower pressure

August 8, 2005 4:04 AM

No shower pressure.

My new apartment's shower has very little water pressure. We've tried a new shower head, which has made the spread of water a little better, but it's still a sprinkle, not a shower.

A quick Google shows a number of solutions, ranging from magic showerheads to extra pumps in the pipeline. Without spending hundreds and ripping stuff out (its a rented place), what would you recommend?

posted by MintSauce to home & garden (11 comments total)

Nahhhhhhh - carefully take it apart (buy another cheapie if ur not comfie) and take out the little disc that looks like it's restricting the flow. They put those in to restrict it to 2 GPM most places. Where you live? Bicostal US prolly eh?

How's the pressure nearest the shower e.g. sink/toilet?
posted by prodevel at 5:44 AM on August 8, 2005

Do you have good pressure with the showerhead removed? If so, it's either too-restrictive (like prodevel says), or there could be mineral deposits in the pipes that keep clogging up the works. On the other hand if the water flow is puny with the showerhead off and the rest of your faucets are okay there could be deposits built up in the pipe, or the shower faucet is somehow restricted. I'd talk to the landlord about that.
posted by SteveInMaine at 5:54 AM on August 8, 2005

Bicostal US prolly eh?

Mintsauce user #11279
Location:UK

Does your apartment have a roof tank? If not, pressures in the UK just aren't very high for an upstairs shower. A low flow misting type shower head is a relatively cheap quick fix. They aren't "magic" but they do tend to give you more than a trickle with less pressure.
posted by Pollomacho at 5:57 AM on August 8, 2005

I don't know if they have this in the U.K., but in the U.S. we have something called the Incredible Head (yes, I know, very funny). It costs about $5 and it's a plain little brass thing, not fancy. It's very easy to install and worked like a charm for our 100+ year old building with trickling water pressure. It's like having a new shower.
posted by walla at 6:10 AM on August 8, 2005

I've been using shower heads similar to the one walla recommends for the past decade. They do work rather well considering their low price. If you look around, you'll find them in lots of places where people are trying to save money by cutting down on water usage. For example, they're ubitquitous in any local gym.

My other recommendation would be to find a pulse-style shower head, like this one. Inside the head is a rotating disc with holes in it (the water pressure is what creates the rotation). It's actually quite clever--in return for the pulsing "massage" setting, you only need half the water (on-off-on-off), but it's delivered at twice the pressure. A win-win solution.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:26 AM on August 8, 2005

The link walla has is the one I had in mind as well. I have one and it works well, plus it saves me money on my water bill.
posted by Pollomacho at 6:56 AM on August 8, 2005

Bit more info: Im in the UK. The water pressure seems fine elsewhere in the apartment. The flow is still fairly slow with the head off. It is a top floor apartment.
posted by MintSauce at 7:21 AM on August 8, 2005

Take a good look in the shower head/pipe/neck. I lived in London and had atrocious calcium and lime build-up which left me with close to zero water pressure.
posted by fionab at 12:19 PM on August 8, 2005

The flow being slow with the head off isn't unusual. That's why you put a head on! Picture a garden hose flowing, and now put your thumb across the end of the hose to make it spray. Same idea.

You can measure flow with a gallon bucket and a watch -- time how long it takes to fill up the bucket, and then convert to gallons per hour. Showerheads in the USA are limited to around 2 gallons per minute, but I've had good showers in the USA, so there's more to shower force than the rate of flow.

It's not like the water is compressing in the pipe, in any case.
posted by mendel at 12:30 PM on August 8, 2005

Second mineral buildup. I have much the same problem - my front bathroom (which I never use) has great pressure whereas the back about 3/4ths to half as much, but it's been steadily decreasing. It's possible the valves are blocked up with mineral cruft too.
posted by mrg at 12:56 PM on August 8, 2005

Possibly, if the shower hose fits on to a wall-bracket, and the ring which attaches the head to the spirally metally hose occasionally gets disturbed & loosens, the inner plastic hose is twisted and the flow lessened.

Undo the head, carefully catching the little black rubber washer that heads for the plughole, untwist and reattach head. Tighten up that ring again good and proper, having gingerly replaced the escaping washer. Voila! Your flow will be restored, like an OAP after his bladder op.
posted by dash_slot- at 4:38 PM on August 8, 2005