Discover Why Your Home May Have Low Water Pressure

One of the big problems with the design of modern faucets is that they do not work well with hard water supplies. The modern faucet design easily traps hard water minerals, blocks the water flow and causes low pressure problems. 

Years ago many standard kitchen, bath and shower faucets had rubber and plastic washers that contacted a circular valve seat inside the faucet. When the faucet was opened, the washer created a large area for the water to pass through. In some ways it was probably too much as the amount of water that passed through was huge. This is not good in the modern era of water conservation.

These days many modern faucets have no cartridges inside the body of the faucet. These cartridges replace the washers that were in the older type of faucet. Many modern faucets also have an aerator or a flow restrictor inside as well which have very small holes to add air to the water. The only problem with these new cartridge type faucets is that they create a very small area for the water to pass through and consequently trap any sediment of hardness minerals.

This often creates low pressure from the faucet as small pieces of sediment or other debris clog the passageway within the valve cartridge and/or the tiny orifices within the aerator and or a flow restrictor. This is an extremely common problem for many homeowners.

These low water pressure and flow problems are very common just after a water main break in a municipal water system. Sand, dirt and other debris can enter municipal piping systems when a water main fractures. Once the water main is repaired, this debris is transported through the water system and can end up in your home.

Any debris in the main such as sediment, soldering flux or shavings of pipework can end up in reaching faucets which again can block the flow. This causes a reduction in water pressure and allows hardness materials to build up.

A great way to deal with this is to consider a water filter. The industry standard these days is the reverse osmosis water filter than effectively removes nearly all of the unwanted sediment and debris as well as up to 95% of calcium and magnesium minerals. This not only helps to provide you and your family with pure, clean water but also prevents stubborn hard water stains from forming around the home.

If you require any help deciding on what water filter is the best one for you and your family, drop me an email at support@hardwaterstainstips.com and I'd be happy to point you in the right direction.

Top Appliance - Medelco Glass Whistling Kettle

If you have ever discovered hard water deposit build up on your kettle elements, then you know what a pain it can be removing the scale from them. Plus, most kettles don't tell you when it's full of scale and needs cleaning...however there is one that does!

The Medelco glass whistling kettle is made of glass and, therefore, as you'd expect, you can see through it. So you can watch the water boil if you want to and see the scale gradually build up over time...only if you want to though!

For dedicated tea and coffee drinkers, the taste of the water they use is very important. The glass kettles like the Medelco whistling kettle has a very important quality - they do not contaminate the boiled water with any metallic or plastic smell. Granted that most of us will not notice anything, but these connoisseurs are very fussy people.

As this is a glass kettle, it does not rust. Even the finest quality stainless steel kettle will eventually start to rust, and most kettles are not made from the best stainless steel. You can also clean it with strong vinegar, unlike metal kettles. If you have small hands, you can reach inside the body of the Medelco whistling kettle with a scrub pad to clean it, if not you can use a bottle brush.

The transparent glass body makes it possible to see how much water is inside it, which is convenient. Unlike normal metal whistling kettles, you do not need to lift the lid to peer into the kettle to see if you need to refill it. You can also see the water boiling, which can be quite interesting especially for children. Apart from this, you can also see when the kettle is dirty (for example from the residue of hard water) so you know when to do a more intensive cleaning with vinegar.

Most metal kettles are made of many different parts soldered together, so there is always the risk of leaks or some part falling apart (especially the spout or even the bottom of the kettle). The Medelco glass whistling kettle is made of one whole piece of glass so it does not have this problem.

To learn more about this kettle, click on the link below:



Although it is made from glass, the glass is thick enough to NOT feel fragile yet it is still thin enough to let the water inside heat up quickly. Overall, the entire kettle is quite solidly built.

At $10 to $15, this whistling kettle is cheap. Many people buy two or three at a time and do not think twice about replacing it when it breaks. This is unlike many metal kettles which cost $30 to $100 or even more.

Any questions, please do not hesitate to email me or leave a comment below.