Kitchen sink water pressure

[zgma]

Anyone have any clue why the water pressure in our kitchen sink would have suddenly gone way down?  It went from a full stream to about half that, a week ago, and seems like it's still getting lower, very slowly.  The pressure (or lack thereof) is the same in both hot and cold taps.  We don't have the same issue in the bathroom sink or shower.

[smudge]

When this happens in our kitchen, my husband turns the tap situated under the sink until we get a faster flow.

[RAYMAN]

you will have to take the tap apart and see if the washer is sticking to the seat or is some how damaged.

[Robinia]

 I don't suppose this would affect your hot tap but I have an underground leak somewhere under my drive (!) & am currently waiting to have it repaired. The reason I found out was when I went into the bathroom (& it was very quiet) it sounded as though someone was running a tap downstairs.

[Tweed]

I would have agreed with what RAYMAN's said as I had the same problem, though it would be a remarkable coincidence if both hot and cold lost pressure at the same time.

[Dusky]

I've had the same problem but, as per Tweed's answer, it would be a coincidence in both taps at the same time.

 

Mine was caused by the inner workings of the tap wearing away over time.  There is a brass clip that hold part of the tap up while the screw thread inside draws the washer up from the seat over the pipe.  If the clip loses its springiness it allows the top part off the tap to drp and thus the screw thread lower doesn't draw up the washer as far.  This can continue until the washer isn't lifted at all and eventually no flow will be allowed at all.  This progression was accompanied by the tap becoming more and more stiff to the turn.

 

By way of a stop-gap, you can delay the inevitable by taking off the actual "handle" part and (having first turned off the water at the main and/or the tank) removing the guts of the tap - it should just unscrew.  you can re-bend the clip a couple of times (any more and it will eventually break) and oil/grease the innards to allow them to move more easily.

 

Eventually you will either have to replace the taps or you can buy just the moving parts and the top to save you having to interfere with the plumbing.  These replacements are available in many DIY stores but I found the widest selection in B&Q.  It's really quite easy to do but, personally, I didn't manage to find a replacement to fit - I apparently have some obscure fittings. 

 

I hope this helps.

[Clanad]

The loss of pressure on both hot and cold would not be unusual if the faucet is a single handle type... but I would be suspicious if you have two separate faucets for hot and cold. If it's the single lever type, it is relatively easy to repair, but only if you know the manufacturer and model number to obtain the correct parts... Best of luck!

[zgma]

It's a single faucet, with a single lever to turn on hot, cold, or somewhere in between.  But the whole faucet was replaced maybe 4 or 5 months ago, and was working fine until now.

[senga-marie]

Report it to the water supplier, if the problem is outside your property they have a duty to fix it

[booksworth]

Where do the h & c streams mix? If it's in the body of the tap, there may be some muck in the outlet pipe that's blocking it. If it's at the tip of the outlet pipe, then sadly it looks like your new tap is bust.