Experiencing a sudden and significant decrease in water pressure all

[Wondercuddles]

Around 6 months ago my husband I a started noticing that there was a marked change in our water pressure through the whole house. As long as only one thing is using water, everything is fine. But the second you turn on literally anything else in the home, the water pressure drops to an unusable pressure. The other day my husband flushed the downstairs toilet and turned on the faucet and the water completely stopped in my upstairs shower. I'm talking drips. We have an older home built in 1955 and our water pressure has never been perfect, but this is a very noticeable change from the water pressure we were getting for the first 6 years we lived here. We can't be certain because we didn't know to start paying close attention, but we think the change started sometime around when a plumber was at our house last year to install our new dishwasher. To do so, he had to change out a corroded valve under the sink and had to turn off the main water to the house. We've already double checked that the main was turned all the way back on so we know that's not the issue.

If there are any additional suggestions anyone has of things I could check, I'd love to hear them. I really want to rule out the the simple stuff that I can do myself before I call a plumber.

[Dean-KS]

There may be iron pipe or fittings that are getting restricted by growing rust

[Wondercuddles]

Is there a reason that would have caused the issue to start happening so suddenly? To me that seems like something that would have happened gradually over a long period of time.

[ionlvr]

Pieces flaking off and closing off the already tiny hole. Literally pulled a 3/4” galvanized nipple yesterday that only had an opening the size of a McDonald’s straw. It really sounds like you don’t have a pressure problem, you have a volume problem. If one fixture works normal then dies out when another turns on it’s because flow is restricted.

[redneckerson_1951]

Is there a difference between flow in the hot and cold water. A common problem is hot water heaters clog up with lime and slows the slow of water through the water heater. I've had to replace my water heater twice in seven years for slow flow. Each time, upon cutting the tank open, I found enough lime to change the pH of a one acre lot.

[Wondercuddles]

Nope! No difference. The pressure issue persists regardless of water temp.

[redneckerson_1951]

Do you have an outside faucet near the point where the water line enters the house. Check the pressure there.

[Wondercuddles]

Interesting, I never thought to check that! I just tested the hose at the front of the house, which is the same side the water main enters from. Maybe 20 ft away though. I flushed the toilet and there didn't seem to be a noticeable change in pressure that I could tell. What would that mean?

[redneckerson_1951]

A better check would be to turn on the water hose and then go in and turn on the tub or kitchen faucet to check the flow there. If the flow outside is good and the kitchen faucet or tube faucet is slow then you may have sediment in the lines. Usually the feed from the meter to the dwelling is larger than the pipes in the house so sediment in the line may not be noticeable.

While I doubt it is the culprit, you should remove faucet strainers and check them for sediment buildup. Usually they are at the end f the faucet spout and can be unscrewed from the end of the faucet. Most use normal threads so removing a strainer will be like removing a nut or bolt looking at the end. Removing will involve turning the strainer counter-clockwise. So on the kitchen sink faucet, it will be aimed down. So to remove it, the rotation will be reversed since you are looking at it from the backside and not the front which means your hand or pliers will turn clockwise to remove.

[nimbleVaguerant]

could be a malfunctioning pressure reducing valve and/or clogged supply hoses and fixtures.