Kristen lives in Sylvania, Ohio. She reads this column weekly and shares this: “In the paper today, you said you were talking about something that would save homeowners money. In my area, many people have problems with water pressure, myself included.”
        Often, when readers contact me, they share a clue to the mystery, and I don’t ask any questions. In Christina’s case, she mentioned that the pressure was “problematic in another part of the house, while the other faucets were fine.”
        Does your family have this problem? If yes, then I have good news for you. Within a few hours, you can restore the full flow of water to all taps. You can do it yourself with a simple tool and some simple chemicals that you probably already have. You can probably spend less than a dollar to restore water pressure.
        First, let me explain Kristen’s question. Many people find it difficult to know the water pressure in their home because the water lines are hidden from view. If we compare a water pipe with a tree with many branches, it is not difficult to understand how the pressure changes.
        Consider what would happen if you cut a strip all the way around the trunk a few inches below the bark. As life-giving water, minerals and nutrients move up from the roots and down from the xylem to the bark and from the leaves to the phloem, the tree dies very quickly when you de-stress completely.
        But what if, instead of cutting around the trunk, you cut one of the main branches? Only the leaves on that branch will die, and the rest of the tree will be fine.
        Insufficient pressure in one or more taps may be due to a local problem in this tap, and not in the main water supply line. In fact, the same thing has happened to me in my own home over the past few months.
        Living in the countryside, I have my own well. I also have a water conditioning system with a complete pre-filter. Filters help protect the filter media that purifies my water. For optimum performance, the 5 micron filter paper should be replaced every three to four months. Believe it or not, I forgot to change the filter.
        The first sign that something is wrong is iron contamination, as the filter has become clogged with tiny iron deposits and now some iron filings are passing through the filter. Gradually, I began to notice that the flow of water from the kitchen faucet was less than satisfactory. However, when I used the laundry chute to fill the truck wash bucket, I didn’t notice any problems with the water flow.
        Remember that bath faucets do not have aerators. Aerators are a huge source of income for plumbers. Aerators are installed at the end of faucets in the kitchen and bathroom to control the flow of water. If you haven’t seen it up close yet, you should because it’s mostly microfilters.
        I removed the kitchen faucet aerator and, lo and behold, sand was visible on the top screen. Who knows what little things can be in a deeper interior? I have also seen heavy iron stains and feel that iron deposits may have begun to restrict flow in the aerator.
        I opened the refrigerator and took out a packet of oxalic acid. I heat four ounces of water in a small glass jar, add a teaspoon of oxalic acid powder, stir, then add to the solution in the aerator. Then I walked for 30 minutes.
        When I returned, the aerator looked like new. I washed it off and proceeded to the second step of the cleaning process. I want to make sure I remove all hard water deposits. I poured the oxalic acid solution over the crabgrass outside, rinsed the container, and added four ounces of white vinegar. I heat the vinegar in the microwave for a minute to make the chemical reaction happen faster.
        If you remember your high school chemistry class, you know that white vinegar is a weak acid and hard water deposits are alkaline. Weak acids dissolve deposits. I soak the aerator in hot white vinegar for several hours.
        As soon as I put the aerator back on the faucet, the water flow returned to normal. If you don’t want to go through this multi-step cleaning process, you can usually just install a new aerator. Take your existing one to the nearest hardware store and they should have a suitable replacement.
        How can I help you? What problems in your home are bothering you? What would you like me to discuss in the next column? Come here and tell me. Don’t forget to include the word GO in the URL: https://GO.askthebuilder.com/helpmetim.
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