No Water Pressure at Bathroom Sink

[Axeman]

Looking for any insight anyone can offer on a water pressure issue we're having. Some background info - we just took our TM out for a checkout trip after having the front, street side wall replaced (that's a story for another time). The wall repairs appear to be fine. One issue I experienced is that the bathroom sink has virtually no water pressure. Just a trickle from both the cold and hot water side. The kitchen sink and the shower seem to have normal pressure. The city water pressure seemed to be ok (~ 55 PSI). I filled the onboard water tank and used the pump and had the same result - kitchen and shower were ok, the bathroom sink is just a trickle. Not enough for the pump to even kick in. I tried to remove the aerator to see if it was clogged, but couldn't figure out how to remove it. It doesn't seem to unscrew. The entire faucet is plastic and seems a bit fragile and I didn't want to force it. There are no visible leaks inside or outside of the TM. There are no visible crimped or damaged pipes or fittings under the kitchen sink or the bathroom sink.

If anyone has any insight into the following, I would greatly appreciate it:

* How to remove the aerator
* Any other potential causes for the water pressure issue
* Thoughts on if/how the wall repair work may have caused the issue

Thanks in advance,
Todd

[Kmikesell]

My first though was the aerator as well... Just remember that it is upside down and "righty tighty" is BACKWARDS! To loosen it turn the aerator to the RIGHT! Clockwise. See if that helps.

[Bill]

I agree with K-mike. It is almost certainly the aerator. You can try to grip it by hand using one of the sticky rubber pads that you use to open jars in the kitchen. If that doesn't work, grip the rubber pad with a pair of slip-joint (aka water pump) pliers as gently as possible, but do not apply the pliers directly to the aerator ring! Try to ease it back and forth just a tiny bit until it comes loose.

Remember the advice about which direction is which. It is also helpful to put a mirror under the spout to confirm what the aerator ring looks like, and exactly where you should be gripping. Some spouts have an unusual shape, and when you think you are gripping the aerator, you are actually gripping something else that isn't supposed to turn.

It may help to de-pressurize the plumbing, since pressure will tend to jam a clogged aerator.

Bill

[Axeman]

Thanks, I'll give it a shot. I do understand about the direction being "reversed". I have a small mirror on a telescoping handle that I used to inspect the spout, so I believe I know what needs to be gripped/turned. We recently moved and I don't think any of the old sticky rubber pads made the move with us, so I'll need to pick one up.

Thanks for the input!

[Kmikesell]

I am actually in the process of replacing all the aerators in my house (I have very hard water) and I use a pair of "Robo-grips" with a fair amount of painters tape wrapped around the jaws to prevent marring... YMMV

[BaconLover]

Yup, I think it was Bill who helped me figure out that it was my aerator too that was causing low water pressure in the bathroom sink faucet. It’s seems like pieces of the carbon from the water filter somehow got lodged in both my bathroom sink faucet and our Oxygenics shower head too.

[Axeman]

Thanks for all the replies and advice. Y'all were right. The aerator was a bit of an SOB to remove, but once it was off, I found the aerator full of sand (suspiciously similar to the sand at the beach campground where we last stayed). I'm confident I didn't drag the water hose through the sand, so I'm thinking they have some sand in their water lines. There was a small amount of sand in the Oxygenics shower head as well. I guess its time to invest in an in-line water filter.

An additional question...any insight into how to safely/easily remove the aerator on the kitchen faucet (2nd picture)? The water flow seems ok, but I'd like to make sure its clear.

Thanks Again!
Todd

[ShrimpBurrito]

That looks like it could be contents from the water heater, perhaps from the anode rod. Might be a good time to pull the rod and flush out the tank....you could wait to see how long it takes to clog the aerator again, but if you have never removed the rod, it's a good idea to do it once a year or so just to inspect it and free the threads. Don't ask me how I know this.

Dave

[Axeman]

Thanks for the tip Dave. I'll definitely inspect the anode rod.

Todd

[Shane826]

Let me know if this works…

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0bdu...w#Gates_Center