A quick and easy way to increase water pressure is to adjust the pressure-reducing valve, which can be found in your home, usually close to your water meter.
Look on the main supply pipe near your water meter for a conical valve that has a bolt sticking out of the cone. To raise pressure, turn the bolt clockwise after loosening its locknut. Keep an eye on the gauge to make sure the pressure is within bounds, then retighten the locknut.
Anything exceeding the normal range (60, 70, or even 80 PSI) can cause significant problems with your home plumbing system, making it more susceptible to leaks, water hammering, pipe bursts, and problems with your fixtures.
Open your main water valve.
Find the valve and check to see if it's completely open. Opening a half-shut valve is one of the quickest ways for increasing home water pressure. Sometimes the main valve is turned off accidentally during routine repairs and maintenance without the homeowner's knowledge.
Many modern shower heads are designed specifically to increase the pressure of the water coming out of the showerhead itself. So, while they can't increase the actual water pressure of the home, they do improve the showering experience.
The short answer is low water pressure in your home arises due to a number of causes. Some include a shut or blocked water meter valve, mineral buildup clogs pipes, corroded pipes, or even a crack in the main city supply pipe to your home.
A water pressure reading will tell you exactly how forceful your water is in PSI (pounds per square inch). Normal water pressure is generally between 40 and 60 PSI. Most homeowners prefer something right in the middle around 50 PSI.
Water pressure is measured in psi, or pounds per square inch, and represents the force at which water enters your home from the water main. Normal psi for a home pipe system is between 30 and 80 psi. While you don't want the psi to be too low, it violates code to be above 80.
Most residential plumbing systems are designed to handle 40 to 60 PSI of pressure, with 80 PSI being the typical maximum and anything over 100 PSI being possibly detrimental to plumbing components.
(Normal is 60 psi and very few areas are below 40 psi) The pressure of the streams will drop under these extreme conditions, of course, but the stream integrity is preserved. This photo shows the stream integrity of our Perfect shower head (old style).
Find the spigot closest to your source of water. Make sure all the taps and other water uses are turned off in your house. Now turn on the spigot and see how long it takes to fill the bucket. Dividing the number 60 by the time to fill the bucket will give you the gallons per minute number.
Low water pressure can occur when the aerator (which reduces the volume of water coming from your faucet without changing pressure) has mineral or rust buildup. The fix: Remove the aerator to see if it needs cleaning. Give it a good scrub and then replace it to determine if it was the cause of your problem.
If there's an accumulation of sediments in your hot water tank, it can lower your water pressure. The presence of kinks in the flexible water pipes used in water heaters can result in low water pressure. If the shut-off valve isn't fully open, water pressure can drop.
If you're looking for the most pressure, go for the 2.5 GPM Flow Rate, unless you are restricted because you reside in California, Colorado or New York. Again, this has been the Maximum Flow Rate since 1992. The step down from there in Flow Rate is 2.0 GPM.
If you have a combi boiler or unvented system, you're unlikely to experience any issues with low water pressure. However, with a gravity fed system, you may run into problems if you don't buy a shower suitable for your water pressure.
Lower pressure could be more severe than you imagine, potentially involving serious problems like leaking or cracked water pipes and may require professional intervention before snowballing into a home plumbing disaster.
If the water pressure is poor in one fixture only, this is a sign of a problem with the water supply to that one plumbing fixture, either at the faucet or in the supply line. If the water pressure is poor in multiple fixtures, this is a sign of a broader problem with the water supply.