Plumber Advice: Why Is My Water Pressure Low? | Myrtle Beach, SC

5/21/2020

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When you turn on a faucet to wash your hands or take a shower in the morning, you expect to get a strong stream of water. However, there are times when the water pressure in your Myrtle Beach, SC, home is a little lower than it should be. Whether you have a problem with a fixture or something in your water line causing a reduction in water pressure, it’s important to call a plumber and have it fixed right away. If you’ve got low water pressure in your home, here are some of the things that might be causing it.

Fixtures

If water seems to trickle out of the faucets in your home, you’d probably think it was caused by some sort of issue in the pipes. The truth of the matter is, the fixtures in your home can have a lot of problems that cause low water pressure. If you’ve got low water pressure in one faucet or area of your home, you should call a professional plumber to investigate the issue.

Aerators are one of the most common causes of low water pressure when it comes to faucets. Every faucet has an aerator on it to make sure the water is flowing at a high pressure while flowing evenly. If your aerator is removed or becomes clogged over time, it will cause water to spray in a sporadic pattern or simply trickle out.

The good news about fixing fixtures is that it’s generally pretty easy. You can call a plumber to replace your aerator or clean out the end of a faucet to increase the water pressure in your home. If you don’t want to go through that much trouble, you can find a replacement aerator for a couple bucks at your local hardware store.

Clogged Pipes

One of the most common causes of low water pressure in homes is a clogged pipe. You might not think you’re at risk for clogged pipes based on what you put down your drains, but that might not be the case. Even if you’re using wipes that are marketed as “flushable,” you may still be causing significant damage to your pipes that causes them to clog up over time.

When your pipes clog, the flow of water throughout your plumbing system is interrupted. The best thing you can do in this case is have a plumber take a look at your pipes and unclog them. In some cases, you may need to have a professional run a camera down your pipes to figure out where the clog is. In most cases, the pipe can be removed using a liquid drain cleaner or some type of snake. If the pipe can’t be removed using the simpler techniques, you may need to have a portion of the pipes in your home replaced. Before you make this decision, it’s important to ask a professional what the best option for your situation is.

Bad Pipes

Sometimes water pressure dips because of a clog in your pipes, but sometimes that dip in water pressure is a result of the type of pipes you’ve got. If you have good water lines in your home, they can be unclogged fairly easily. However, there are times when you might need to have a plumber do a complete repipe of your water system.

Galvanized pipes are one of the biggest problems when it comes to low water pressure. If you’re not getting enough water pressure in your home and you’ve had a plumber check your pipes for clogs, have them check if your pipes are made of galvanized steel. These pipes have a tendency to wear down and cause problems over time, which is why they’re not used as often anymore.

To start with, a plumber will replace the pipe that runs from the water meter to your home. Oftentimes, this will fix the problem when it comes to low water pressure. However, there are times when the problem is somewhere under the house. If replacing the water lines from the water meter to your home doesn’t fix the problem, you might consider replacing the water lines underneath your home. Not only does this help you narrow down the cause of a leak and get it fixed, it ensures you don’t have to worry about replacing water lines in your home for a long time.

Age

As is the case with anything in your home, your plumbing system will eventually wear down a bit. If you haven’t had the plumbing system in your home replaced in many decades, now is a good time to have a plumber take a look at it and make sure everything is in good shape.

As a general guideline, brass pipes tend to last 40 to 70 years while copper lines last 50 or more years. PVC drain lines, on the other hand, should last indefinitely. If you want to keep your plumbing system in good shape and prevent any major problems, the best thing you can do is make sure you replace your pipes when they start to reach the end of their life expectancy.

Take Back Your Water

The only thing worse than turning the water on and getting weak pressure is turning the water on and getting no water at all. Fortunately, there are a few easy troubleshooting steps you can take to make sure you’re getting the best water pressure for your home.

If you’ve tried everything you can think of and you’re still not getting enough water pressure to your Myrtle Beach, SC, home, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing of Myrtle Beach can help. If you need a plumber to fix a problem before it becomes a major issue, give us a call at (843) 213-6611 today.