# How to Increase Water Pressure in My Shower Head? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-increase-water-pressure-in-my-shower-head/563539 "2010-12-09T15:46:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-increase-water-pressure-in-my-shower-head/563539/21 "2010-12-10T17:35:52Z")
Right. I thought that sounded funny after I posted it. What I meant was that it refills fine, in what seems like a normal to a little faster than normal amount of time. I would think with the low pressure, the tank would take a half hour to refill, but it’s just a minute or two. Same as any other toilet with a standard tank. If I fill a gallon container in the kitchen it takes longer to fill that with the faucet turned on all the way than it does for the toilet to refill. Anyway, it’s not a big deal. Drawback to being on the top floor maybe, but worth it in many other respects! ---
**Author:** ![ChickenLegs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@ChickenLegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChickenLegs)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-increase-water-pressure-in-my-shower-head/563539/22 "2010-12-11T15:44:40Z")
Here’s the trouble: > **[The Bureaucrat in Your Shower | Jeffrey A. Tucker](https://mises.org/library/bureaucrat-your-shower)** > > You can hack your shower, writes Jeffrey Tucker, but do not do this lest you endanger your status as a law-abiding citizen who takes wimpy showers. Showerheads or limited to 2.5 gallons per minute at 80 gallons per minute by federal law. When they first came out with the law, manufacturers just installed a small flow restrictor in their existing designs. But some consumers were smart enough to just remove this piece and get a good shower again. So the law was revised to require manufacturers to produce shower heads that are not easily modified. A few years ago, I heard you could buy shower heads of foreign manufacture on the internets that exceeed the 2.5 gpm limitation. Of course, you’d be a criminal if you actually installed it… ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-increase-water-pressure-in-my-shower-head/563539/23 "2010-12-11T16:22:13Z")
Oooooo… kind of thrilling, the thought of buying a black market shower head… !! ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Jon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bb73d2/32.png) [@Evil\_Jon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Jon)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-increase-water-pressure-in-my-shower-head/563539/24 "2010-12-11T16:30:21Z")
I’d go with the recommendations here: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vMITcQUe-9M/hqdefault.jpg "Seinfeld-The Shower Head") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMITcQUe-9M) ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-increase-water-pressure-in-my-shower-head/563539/25 "2010-12-11T23:37:44Z")
I dunno. I think I could handle the Commando 450. But then, I come from hearty Midwestern stock. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-increase-water-pressure-in-my-shower-head/563539/26 "2010-12-12T13:17:49Z")
> [@ChickenLegs](#): > > Here’s the trouble: > > [http://mises.org/daily/2007](http://mises.org/daily/2007) > > Showerheads or limited to 2.5 gallons per minute at 80 gallons per minute by federal law. > > When they first came out with the law, manufacturers just installed a small flow restrictor in their existing designs. But some consumers were smart enough to just remove this piece and get a good shower again. So the law was revised to require manufacturers to produce shower heads that are not easily modified. > > A few years ago, I heard you could buy shower heads of foreign manufacture on the internets that exceeed the 2.5 gpm limitation. Of course, you’d be a criminal if you actually installed it… I have trouble with my current shower getting to the bottom of the tub. I thought it was just because the stream is angled funny, but maybe not. I may try to clean and reuse my old shower head. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-increase-water-pressure-in-my-shower-head/563539/27 "2010-12-12T19:07:17Z")
Hey, just installed my new low-flow shower head and wept with joy. Thanks guys for helping me out. I really appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-increase-water-pressure-in-my-shower-head/563539/28 "2010-12-12T21:37:56Z")
Woo Hoo! Good for you! I never understood the low-flow hate. They make for stronger showers! Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-increase-water-pressure-in-my-shower-head/563539/29 "2010-12-12T22:20:20Z")
> [@ChickenLegs](#): > > When they first came out with the law, manufacturers just installed a small flow restrictor in their existing designs. But some consumers were smart enough to just remove this piece and get a good shower again. So the law was revised to require manufacturers to produce shower heads that are not easily modified… Yes, because nobody in America has a drill. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![casimir3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@casimir3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casimir3)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-increase-water-pressure-in-my-shower-head/563539/30 "2012-10-14T18:02:34Z")
How about this: I have decent water pressure and used to have a great shower. However, I recently installed a “watering can” type shower head when I installed a new clawfoot tub. My wife loves bathing in the deep tub, but hates the void in the middle of the stream of water that comes out of the shower head. I’ve removed both flow restrictors and the pressure is fine, but there’s still a spiraling action to the flow that leaves a space in its interior. For a short and slender person with long, thick hair like my wife, this is a particular problem. What would happen if I drilled out the five holes in the center of the head to make the holes bigger? Might this increase the flow to the interior of the cone of water? The shower head is new and was expensive, so I’m hesitant to experiment blindly. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-increase-water-pressure-in-my-shower-head/563539/31 "2012-10-14T18:12:09Z")
the head (wife’s) pivots and move and you don’t have to drill it. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-increase-water-pressure-in-my-shower-head/563539/32 "2012-10-14T18:26:07Z")
> [@casimir3](#): > > How about this: I have decent water pressure and used to have a great shower. However, I recently installed a “watering can” type shower head when I installed a new clawfoot tub. My wife loves bathing in the deep tub, but hates the void in the middle of the stream of water that comes out of the shower head. I’ve removed both flow restrictors and the pressure is fine, but there’s still a spiraling action to the flow that leaves a space in its interior. For a short and slender person with long, thick hair like my wife, this is a particular problem. What would happen if I drilled out the five holes in the center of the head to make the holes bigger? Might this increase the flow to the interior of the cone of water? The shower head is new and was expensive, so I’m hesitant to experiment blindly. Thanks. As I see it you have nothing to lose but a showerhead that is not working for you…er your wife. I personally have not found a showerhead that beats the simple under $10 metal one with the flow restrictor removed or drilled out, so perhaps just getting that type could solve the problem. ---
**Author:** ![casimir3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@casimir3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casimir3)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-increase-water-pressure-in-my-shower-head/563539/33 "2012-10-29T22:18:44Z")
I came to agree with kanicbird and experimentally drilled out just the central 5 holes on my shower head. It was easy with a little oil on the drill bit and didn’t make a mess of my pretty, expensive chrome head at all. AND, it definitely reduced the hole in the center of the stream. Upon hearing the good news, my darling sniffed, “Well, I’ll TRY it, but it’s still not what I want.” However, all of us who’ve been married more than a couple of years understand that sometimes plausible deniability (or “I may not have done what you WANT, but I have done what I can to satisfy your NEED”) is the best one can hope for. I’ll see how her next shower goes and drill out more holes as necessary, but none of my fears (screwed up stream, dribbles, pressure collapse, mutilated chrome) came to pass. And yes, I could just put up the old $10 fixture, which always worked great, but it’s ugly and I have a certain relationship investment in the new fixture at this point… The two-armed strut of triumph will follow shortly, I’m sure. Thanks for the advice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-increase-water-pressure-in-my-shower-head/563539.md?page=1)