(Yes, I live in Detroit. And sometimes it can be a struggle to keep our services up. But I think we’re still doing a good job. So please no Detroit-bashing.)
A couple of years ago they were laying in fiber optical cables in my neighborhood. And they ruptured a water line. My friend across the street, arguably one of the anchor members of the neighborhood, got the water department out to fix it the same day.
The only problem is, I could swear the pressure is just a little weaker. I only notice it in the kitchen (showers seem unaffected). The neighbor next door had someone come out and look at his garden hose line. Because I saw it, the pressure there was pathetic. All to no avail. I haven’t noticed any of the other neighbors complaining.
The water main in my neighborhood was installed in 1876. (Yes, 1876. Get it all out of your systems, the negative things you want to say .) My house was built in 1946 or 9 (according to Zillow). It outwardly seems pretty modern.
What could be wrong? What could I do? And what, if anything, could the water department have done wrong?
Have you checked if the aerator is clean? It’s possible that the water main work churned up debris that is obstructing the flow of water at the faucet. How is the pressure with the aerator removed?
Is the pressure low all the time (tough to know unless you have a pressure gauge somewhere), or does it drop when you’re flowing water?
If its always low, something is wrong at the supply end. The city isnt providing as much pressure as before. Like a water tower isn’t being maintained as full as it once was or the pumps supplying the system are dialed back.
If it’s the same pressure to start (static pressure) and it drops off severely when you start flowing (a low residual pressure), there’s an obstruction. A partially closed valve is usually my first go-to. If not valves, something in the pipe is likely the culprit. I have also seen collapsed pipes and once a tree’s roots that went down six feet and crushed a pipe.
That there was a main break makes me think there’s something in the pipe. The motion of water coming out of the pressurized side of a broken main stirs up soil and stones and can send them back into the downstream segment of pipe. Underground pipe is often cement lined (even in the 1800s), this lining can break off in pieces during a main break and send those downstream. Those chunks of whatever travel until they find a narrow enough spot to get stuck, and reduce available volume.
If you aren’t flowing any water, the entire pipe will assume the same pressure across it’s length (barring elevation). Once you start flowing, the obstruction robs your residual pressure and you get little to nothing out the far end. If that’s what you’re seeing, my money is a partially closed valve (easy to find and usually free to fix) or there’s a rock/wrench/broken piece of pipe in the main.
Does your house have a valve at the incoming water supply that steps down the pressure from the city water? (Ours does.) If so, you might be able to adjust it to get more pressure inside the house.
Sometimes during a fix the part they used to fix the pipe adds a bit of restriction, reducing the pipe diameter through the fixed section. If that’s the case it may be something you just have to live with.
A start would be to clean the screen on the faucet and turn off and on the valves that lead to it
To confirm the pressure drop get a pressure gauge, and watch it when you cause the low pressure condition. This could help determine if it’s local to that line or in the entire house.
Someone mentioned a pressure regulator some have near their meter, you could try adjusting it, and just moving it may cause some debris to free itself.
Since it’s only your kitchen you may be able to increase the flow by replacing the faucet (Detroit is close to Canada, Canada doesn’t have the same water flow restrictions with faucet), or modding it to increase water flow.
If it’s truly intolerable and the city says you are shit out of luck you might look into a water pressure booster or even one could use a pressure tank combined with that, usually used for private wells which would give you a reserve of pressure.
.) My house was built in 1946 or 9 (according to Zillow). It outwardly seems pretty modern.