Delta Shower Head Increase Water Flow (2024)

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 basem*nt. 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 basem*nt: 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. Corner Bathroom Sink Cad BlockI don't have any of those problems.All Terrain Tires With Aggressive Sidewall 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. Best Blender For Coconut ChutneyThis 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. ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ► ►10 Best Rain Shower Heads | We spent 29 hours on research, videography, and editing, to review the top picks for this wiki. There'll be no more struggling to get the shampoo suds out of your hair every morning because of the lousy water pressure in your bathroom if you install one of these rain shower heads. They dump a ton of water on top of you and are designed to increase the spraying power in low water pressure systems. Click here to see our #1 pick Hansgrohe Air Green E 120 pressurizes water to increase spray included rubber nipples are cheap standard 1/2" plumbing connection temperature display for precision includes glass shelf and mirror built-in diverter to select the head rain spray or rotating water pattern

Rozinsanitary LED Changing Color Rainfall usually requires no additional hardware easy single lever control seals well against tile wall includes rain shower, jets & hand shower jets are made from solid brass hot and cold valve control has quick clean system air injection to increase water pressure Age 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 and older Gender Male Female I ordered this product as Walmart has a fantastic return policy and if I was unhappy with the merchandise I knew I could return it. The problem is I did not realize this was through a third party vendor called deal yard. I received the shower head and it was very cheaply made for the price, everything was plastic. I didn't feel for $40+ there was going to be any longevity. Deal yard will not accept the return because the package was opened? How was I to know I would be returning it without opening it. They did not give any other options just told me they cannot take it back. I do not recommend ordering from them unless you are 100% sure you are keeping the product.

My dog is half weiner so he's really short and it isn't easy to get at his back undernethers (he's also very long) but it can go anywhere in a tub-sized shower you'd like it to as long as you're over a foot tall and can turn around! The water pressure is wonderful no matter how you have it set and it only takes a turn of a switch to change from shower/sprayer to sprayer, or vice versa. To change settings on the sprayer (there are several, including pulse) just twist the inner circle to your preferred setting. I didn't bother with the recommended tape around the spout before twisting it on but I get MAYBE one drop every thirty seconds anyway. Easy to install, just screw it on your existing shower head nozzle and you're good to go! I love it so much I bought one for a friend! Yes () No (4) Report Yes() No(4) Peerless products have always been good, and this showerhead is no exception! Once out of the bubble pack it's a brreze to install by using the directions. The water pressure here is outstanding, and there were no sputters once the fittings were attached and the water turned on.

It took a bit to get used to the different settings on the detachable part, but what the hey, it's not rocket science! Only one gripe is that while the fittings were chrome, they are plastic, and not metal... Yes () No (5) Report Yes() No(5) By far the best shower I've ever had! Yes () No (0) Report Yes() No(0) I am a 64 year female and I installed with no problems. Bought some plumbing tape as recommended by another reviewer and no leaks... Yes () No (0) Report Yes() No(0) Verified purchaser I did read some of the reviews before my purchase and there were many complaints about joint leaks. I have installed many shower heads, so I thought I could fix it if it needed it and it did. Three different joints leaked, so I took the washers out and the flow restrictor washer out and reinstalled the shower head. Works great now, but repairing a new item is not what I expect to have to do when making a purchase. I like it very much now and that is why I selected that I would recommend it to a friend.