Anybody else fed up with low flow shower heads?

Chdamn

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Learned this trick from a plumber. Remove your shower head. Looks down inside. See that plastic crap there in the middle? That there’s a flow regulator. You can’t remove it.

But what you can do is take a Philip’s screw driver, put it in the hole and on that plastic piece. Then give it a firm hit with the palm of your hand. Hear that crackle? That’s the sound of better water pressure.

C8004919-595A-4785-A4A8-29B6285879B1.jpeg

Here’s what it looks like when you’re done. Turn it up and shake it. If the little bits come out great. If not don’t worry about them.

03F39FBD-58D9-4AC3-B4D4-1504334B57DF.jpeg

For faucets the flow regulator is built into the aerator. Don’t have a pic for that. But all you do is remove the aerator, take it apart and look for a tiny o-ring. Remove that and put the aerator back together and back in the faucet.
 
Yup. Low flow, save the planet, crap! Pull that sucker out.
 
Every one I’ve bought, the flow regulator is removable. And remove they do.
 
Wife and I stayed in a hotel along the blue ridge parkway years ago, I don't recall the name, and they had high pressure, low volume shower heads. It felt like you were washing yourself with a pressure washer, one of the worst showers I've ever had. On the plus side, I've never seen a shower head like that one again.
 
So who thought it was necessary to put a flow regulator in a ketchup bottle? Is that a government thing?

.
 
Wife and I stayed in a hotel along the blue ridge parkway years ago, I don't recall the name, and they had high pressure, low volume shower heads. It felt like you were washing yourself with a pressure washer, one of the worst showers I've ever had. On the plus side, I've never seen a shower head like that one again.
Agh! Your post reminded me of the first time my ex & I visited her parents when their new house was done.

They'd put in a "luxury" shower -- all tile & glass block, showerhead in the ceiling, showerhead on the wall in the usual location, and some "luxurious jets" up and down the walls on the sides, so you could be sprayed from any direction except up from the floor.

They were all those HPLV heads.

Ever pressure wash your willie? While not wearing pants?

EEEYOWW!!!! Ya needed a plastic cup to shower in there! What a waste of tile.
 
Wife and I stayed in a hotel along the blue ridge parkway years ago, I don't recall the name, and they had high pressure, low volume shower heads. It felt like you were washing yourself with a pressure washer, one of the worst showers I've ever had. On the plus side, I've never seen a shower head like that one again.


Yep if you ever see "LEED" certified in a hotels literature, run away.
 
Took care of that one a while back but I want the trick for low flow washing machine. These new ones suck and take forever compared the older ones.
 
Wonder how long before all the Green Deal bovine caca will include disabling a low flow shower head as a felony?
 
Is there a part of your life that is NOT either directly or indirectly regulated by local, state or federal government????

If some activity is going well, some new item is making life better, some food or gadget is newly popular, you can be sure that some bureaucrat is plotting to restrict its use or ban it. Politicians on both the left and the right imagine that their main role is thinking of ways to control how we live, direct how we spend what money we make, and take away freedoms and rights once taken for granted.

In this case it is the Dept of Energy, so here is enough info so that you will never look at a showered the same way again,lol.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6291–6309 (EPCA) establishes energy conservation or water use standards and test procedures for certain consumer products, including showerheads. Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 430 (10 CFR 430), defines the term “showerhead” to mean a component or set of components distributed in commerce for attachment to a single supply fitting, for spraying water onto a bather, typically from an overhead position, excluding safety shower showerheads. (10 CFR 430.2) The Department of Energy (DOE) last amended the test procedures for showerheads on September 30, 2013. Under the provisions of 42 U.S.C. 6295(j)(3), the water use standards for showerheads have not been amended.

The flow rate of a showerhead manufactured and distributed in commerce, as defined by 42 U.S.C. 6291(10) and (16) respectively, must be not greater than the maximum water use standards under 10 CFR 430.32(p)...I know, WTF does that mean??

What does that REALLY mean...DOE Federal regulations mandate that new showerhead flow rates can't exceed more than 2.5 gallons per minute (gpm) at a water pressure of 80 pounds per square inch (psi).



@Chdamn...thank you for bringing showerhead hacking into the spotlight...its not really the sound of better water pressure, its a freedom shower...wash yourself of the feds and their bureaucrats and set yourself free in your own shower turned into a rebel waterfall of government defiance!

PS...POTUS has personally assaulted this "law", called it "silly" and wants it rolled back.





 
highly recommended.
I'm more than happy to adjust flow using the knobs on the wall... i don't need to be forced to do it by the shower.
different shower heads have different types of regulators, some are easier to "fix" than others
 
The valve on my shower has no flow regulation. It only mixes the hot a cold feeds. Not sure I'd want to do this.
 
So who thought it was necessary to put a flow regulator in a ketchup bottle? Is that a government thing?

.
Bloomberg


The valve on my shower has no flow regulation. It only mixes the hot a cold feeds. Not sure I'd want to do this.
I remember those in college. :D
 
Is there a part of your life that is NOT either directly or indirectly regulated by local, state or federal government????

If some activity is going well, some new item is making life better, some food or gadget is newly popular, you can be sure that some bureaucrat is plotting to restrict its use or ban it. Politicians on both the left and the right imagine that their main role is thinking of ways to control how we live, direct how we spend what money we make, and take away freedoms and rights once taken for granted.

In this case it is the Dept of Energy, so here is enough info so that you will never look at a showered the same way again,lol.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6291–6309 (EPCA) establishes energy conservation or water use standards and test procedures for certain consumer products, including showerheads. Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 430 (10 CFR 430), defines the term “showerhead” to mean a component or set of components distributed in commerce for attachment to a single supply fitting, for spraying water onto a bather, typically from an overhead position, excluding safety shower showerheads. (10 CFR 430.2) The Department of Energy (DOE) last amended the test procedures for showerheads on September 30, 2013. Under the provisions of 42 U.S.C. 6295(j)(3), the water use standards for showerheads have not been amended.

The flow rate of a showerhead manufactured and distributed in commerce, as defined by 42 U.S.C. 6291(10) and (16) respectively, must be not greater than the maximum water use standards under 10 CFR 430.32(p)...I know, WTF does that mean??

What does that REALLY mean...DOE Federal regulations mandate that new showerhead flow rates can't exceed more than 2.5 gallons per minute (gpm) at a water pressure of 80 pounds per square inch (psi).



@Chdamn...thank you for bringing showerhead hacking into the spotlight...its not really the sound of better water pressure, its a freedom shower...wash yourself of the feds and their bureaucrats and set yourself free in your own shower turned into a rebel waterfall of government defiance!

PS...POTUS has personally assaulted this "law", called it "silly" and wants it rolled back.






Who’s house has 80psi of water pressure? I’ve never seen pressure that high in a home.


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The intent behind a water regulator is solid. The implementation is where it fails.

Of all the stuff that we consume that may be worth conserving, dc lean drinking water is number one. However, most ideas to help with this end up causing as much or more usage of the resource.

Since these shower heads flow so low, you gotta stand there longer to get clean.

Show me a way to conserve water and still get the “service” I need from it, I’m all in.
 
Who’s house has 80psi of water pressure? I’ve never seen pressure that high in a home.


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Mine has 120psi at the street. Had to put in a regulator to stop busting stuff in the house.
 
Most homes have a pressure regulator....... it should be in the neighborhood of 50-60 PSI coming into the house IIRC.
 
The intent behind a water regulator is solid. The implementation is where it fails.

Of all the stuff that we consume that may be worth conserving, dc lean drinking water is number one. However, most ideas to help with this end up causing as much or more usage of the resource.

Since these shower heads flow so low, you gotta stand there longer to get clean.

Show me a way to conserve water and still get the “service” I need from it, I’m all in.

The guy who owns proximity hotel had it right. Conserve but not at the expense of guest comfort.

One thing they found works is to replace the aerator with a laminar. It removes all air from the water. You feel like you’re getting a much higher flow of water when washing your hands.
 
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