No water pressure

Faith

The water pressure in the taps in my bath is really low. The hot pours out consistently enough, but I think it could be stronger, while barely a trickle comes out of the cold tap. I assume the pipes are blocked or something. The taps in the sink and kitchen are fine, at least as far as I'm concerned. Is there anything I can do to sort out the pressure that not difficult, expensive or time consuming? It's not a major concern, but it is a bit annoying.

RoundyMooney

Apartment/duplex/two storey house? I'm trying to ascertain what the plumbing arrangements are.

Also, has it always been this way or has your water been turned off recently?

I'm thinking you may have an airlock...

Faith

Oops, sorry. It's an apartment, on the first floor. There's 3 apartments per floor, in a building about 150 years old.

I only noticed it recently, but I'm not in the habit of taking baths. The water hasn't been turned off in my apartment any time that I know of. I've lived here since September.

byte

We had a similar problem with a cold tap in the bathroom sink. Turned out to be caused by a washer or something in the tap itself.

RoundyMooney

No bother.

The pressure is ok in your other taps then, and they're all on the same level?

I'm guessing there's just a large header tank in the loft feeding down to the apartments, and you probably have your own gas burner/electric water heater for your hot water? Either way, I'm still thinking there's an airlock in there somewhere, which is impeding the flow of water in the feed to the cold bath tap. Bath taps are usually fed with larger bore pipework, so you don't have to wait all day for your suds and such, which also means that any loss of flow is more noticeable.

Blockages other than that would be unlikely tbh.

Is the bath tap a mixer by any chance? (Two knobs, one "nozzle" on the same unit)?

Faith

RoundyMooney wrote:

The pressure is ok in your other taps then, and they're all on the same level?

Yeah, it's fine. It may be lower than it's supposed to be, but they've been the same since I moved in, so I assume they're fine. And yeah, they're all on the same level.

I'm guessing there's just a large header tank in the loft feeding down to the apartments, and you probably have your own gas burner/electric water heater for your hot water?

Yeah, a gas burner. There's also a water tank in the bathroom, in a little attic space type thing.

Is the bath tap a mixer by any chance? (Two knobs, one "nozzle" on the same unit)?

Nope, two separate taps.

Are airlocks easy to sort out?

RoundyMooney

Not a plumber myself, but what I usually do (where there's a mixer tap) is block the nozzle with my hand (making sure the water isn't too hot or I get a scalded palm for my trouble), and turn both taps on. The pressure from the good side (in this case, the hot) forces the air back up the pipe, and gravity usually does the rest. With two single taps, the same can be achieved with a foot or two of garden hose and two jubilee clips. It's easier in seperate dwellings because the kitchen tap is usually at mains pressure, and is much stronger.

I suppose you could try the pipe and jubilee trip thing, should only cost a pound or two. Given that's an apartment, is there a landlord or management company involved, as in the first case they'd be liable for sure, and in the second, they may be?

Sorry I can't be of more assistance...

Faith

Thanks Roundy! I own the place, so there's no landlord or anything. I'll try what you suggest and see how it goes .

311

It doesn't sound like there is anything to worry about ,the water supply for your bath is coming from a tank above your head . So the flow won't be great anyway.

Your kitchen sink may have an instantaneous water heater and this is why it's a little better.