Join the Speakman Society Be a part of the Speakman Society and receive first notice on new products, discounts, and cool Speakman merchandise! I do not want in on discounts and new products. Added on: January 12, 2014 Summary: Low water flow to a shower head can be caused by a low-flow rough-in valve/cartridge Every hotel I've ever been to has a shower head that blasts me with more water than I could ever need. But the one in my house sends out just a trickle by comparison. I know there is a federal regulation that requires shower heads to produce no more than 2.5 Gallons Per Minute (GPM) at 80 PSI but I assume hotels are also bound by those rules. I've been baffled by this problem and for years I didn't know how to fix it. Now I've finally figured it out. I measured the water flow rate from my shower head and got 1.0 GPM, but I can get nearly 10 GPM from the utility sink in my basement. Even when the shower head and tub spout are removed the water flow is 1.4 GPM or less from the bare pipe, so I know it's not the fault of the restrictor in the shower head.

I have 40 PSI municipal water and copper pipes throughout the house. Here are the measurements I took: Shower head: 1.0 GPM Bathtub spout: 1.4 GPM Shower pipe w/o shower head attached: 1.1 GPM Tub spout pipe w/o spout attached: 1.4 GPM Toilet in the same bathroom: 3.9 GPM Utility sink in the basement: 9.9 GPM Since I have great pressure elsewhere in the house, next I checked if there might be something gummed up in the shower valve blocking the water flow. I unscrewed the hot water handle and removed the cartridge, but it was nice and clean and there didn't seem to be any blockage in the pipe, either. I turned the water supply to flush out any unseen blockage that might be in there and just to see how much water would come out. But when I put the cartridge back in I got the same poor water flow. I did notice the cartridge lets water in through two tiny little holes and thus makes a great bottleneck. It seems like it is designed to reduce water pressure by about 80-90%.

It is essentially a low-flow shower valve and no matter what shower head I use it will provide poor water flow. I did some googling and called some plumbing supply stores but as far as I can tell no one has ever heard of a low flow shower valve or low flow cartridge. Everyone suggests checking for a partially closed shut-off valve in the line, gunk clogging up the valve, a restrictor in the shower head, corrosion inside galvanized pipes, or low water pressure to the entire house. African Cats Movie NamesI don't have any of those problems.Curtains Target Store I asked some plumbing supply stores and a plumber, but there doesn't seem to be a different cartridge I could buy that would increase the water flow. Dogs For Sale BermudaThis cartridge doesn't have a part number or brand name anywhere on it but it looks like an imitation Moen cartridge.

After I tried to drill it out and caused a leak, I replaced it with an Ace hardware part called "Faucet Stem Moen Style 6S-1H/C Hot/Cold stem." It's a replacement for a Moen 1224 stem but it looks like my shower never had a genuine Moen part. I went to Home Depot to check out rough-in valves there, but there is no information provided about water flow rate. On American Standard's website, however, there are some spec sheets for their rough-in valves that give water flow rates. My solution was to replace the rough-in valve with an American Standard part and now my water flow rate is much improved. I have heard that the 2.5GPM government regulation caused some manufacturers to overcompensate and produce super-low-flow components that are way below 2.5GPM just to be on the safe side. But as far as I know, that regulation applied to shower heads and kitchen/bathroom faucets, not to the shower valves themselves. It seems that my shower valve was made with stems/cartridges that are also used for bathroom sink faucets, and those are limited to 2.2 GPM at 80PSI by law.

It just seems like a bad design to carry those parts over to a shower/tub valve. It used to take half an hour to fill the tub, which is really annoying and benefits no one. * Right click on the link above and choose "save target as" ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ►Slow the Flow offers consultations on residential water use and suggests simple measures to increase water use efficiency in the home. Through the Center for ReSource Conservation’s partnership with water providers in Colorado, Slow the Flow is available at no cost to qualifying residents. Participants simply schedule a one-hour appointment with a trained water-conservation consultant in their home. During the session the consultant will measure outputs from faucets, toilets, and shower-heads, and perform a cost/benefit analysis on fixture replacement options. He/She may also install low-flow shower-heads and faucet aerators at no cost. The consultation will leave you with a customized list of recommendations for increasing efficient water use.

Is Your Home Eligible for a No-Cost Consultation? Take our eligibility quiz to find out if you qualify for a Slow the Flow Indoor Consultation. Once your eligibility is confirmed, locate your water account number (listed on water bill statements). Request an appointment by signing-up here, or by calling 303.999.3824 to speak with a scheduler directly. Schedule Your Slow the Flow Consultation Choose the date and time most convenient for you. You will receive an appointment confirmation. You can review your appointment time or access your custom assessment report by logging in. Login & View Report How much does the consultation cost? Participating water providers have partnered with us to make this program available at no cost. How long will it take? The entire process will take one hour. Who will perform the consultation? Our team of professionally-trained water consultants from the Center for ReSource Conservation always perform Slow the Flow consultations.