Pressure Problem...

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Mozart

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Hello people. I've come up against a problem that I can't seem to solve. Here's the particulars...

An old 2 story Chicago building, built in the early 20's. First floor houses an office, with 2 apartments on the second floor. The building was converted from 2 buildings into one, so there's two water lines (2 shut offs) in the basement coming in from the outside

About 3 months ago, I installed a new (cheap) kitchen faucet in one of the apartments, & the pressure was fine. All of a sudden, the water came out very slowly with little pressure

The other faucets in the apartment bathrooms have good pressure, as do the faucets in the other apartment & the faucets in the office below, although the tub spout is pretty slow. But overall, it's just this one kitchen

I installed a better faucet today, but still had the same problem. I also installed new turn off valves on both the hot & cold lines under the sink, but the problem persists

I haven't checked the flow from the water lines under the sink, but there must be some obstruction somewhere. Maybe sediment? It just seems weird to me that both the hot & cold lines could get clogged up at the exact same time, & far enough into the system where it wouldn't effect any other faucets in the building on the same lines

Any thoughts? And how can I clean out old 1/2 inch iron water lines?

Thanks for any help
 

Cacher_Chick

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It is quite likely you have loosened sediment in the piping, but it will flow clear of an open supply pipe. I would start by cleaning the aerators and if still low, checking the flow at the supply piping. Make sure your shut-offs are opening and closing fully also.
 

Mozart

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Thanks for replying

I forgot to say that I checked the aerators on both the old & new faucets. Both were clean. Ran the water with them out & had the same problem

What perplexes me is the water pipes run throughout the building, & no other faucets run slow. That, &, if it's a blockage occurring past all the other faucets except the one in question, what are the odds both the cold & hot pipes would clog up at the same time?

Do the pro's use air compressors to blow out water lines?
 

Jadnashua

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Galvanized steel water lines can end up looking like the diameter of a soda straw after a number of years...I don't think there is an easy way to clean them out, only to replace them. It could just be one fitting, and not the whole pipe, but steel and water, even with galvanizing, does not last forever, and nearly 100-years (built in the 1920'S?), has probably reached its service life. Note that the galvanizing is applied before the pipe is cut and threaded, so there's bare steel, and with water, too, things rust.

Don't confuse pressure with volume. My guess is that if you put a water pressure gauge there, the pressure would be just fine. You can't make a soda straw look like a fire hose, but they can both be supplied with exactly the same pressure.
 
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