Low water pressure from *some* faucets after softener rebed

[pdq]

We have a nice Kinetico softener which is as old as the house (about 20 years) and we recently had it rebedded on the advice of the dealer because the water was starting to come out with a slight brown discoloration.

They rebedded it, and the water is better now. But there are a couple of faucets in the house which developed low water pressure afterward (more or less immediately). The other faucets in the house seem to be fine, and in both faucets, the hot water comes out with good force but the cold water is diminished. (?!)

Putting the softener into bypass doesn't help. I called the folks that did the rebed, and they think it's just coincidence - maybe the pump (we're on well water) is going. So we called the well folks and they sent us through some diagnostics and the pump and well seem to be fine (which makes sense, since the pressure at most of the faucets is fine).

I'm wondering if during the rebed, they sent some resin (or scale, or whatever) into the pipes, and the first two faucets we used afterwards are now partially plugged on the cold side. One is an older Moen bath faucet - I can troubleshoot and replace the cartridge, etc fairly easy, but the other is a fancy new electronically controlled motion-sensing kitchen faucet that we put in when we redid the kitchen.

Any advice? Does my suspicion make sense?

 

[Reach4]

I first thought clean the aerator screens, but your problem is cold only. Look for a pipe, and maybe a valve, common to the faucets with the slow cold.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[LLigetfa]

Putting the softener into bypass doesn't help

That pretty much rules out the softener then. Probably when the house plumbing was drained to service the softener, the inrush when pressuring it back up send sediment down the lines and maybe piled up in the angle stops. The hot side was saved since the hot water tank acted to trap the sediment.

 

[Bannerman]

Suggest removing all of the aerators throughout and then opening all of the cold faucets at the same time. If there is sediment or other debris within the lines, that may serve to help dislodge to allow the crud to flow out through the faucets. If there are shutoffs and angle stops, it maybe useful to also operate those valves while the water is flowing, to loosen any buildup within.

 

[pdq]

Thanks for your input. I will try the things you suggested.

 

[ditttohead]

Angle stops are a common choke point for debris, scale etc. Remove one from an affected area and inspect the valve and the pipe, let us know what you find.

 

[pdq]

So, I replaced the cartridge on the bath faucet (which, after 20 years, was pretty black) and got the cold water working properly again. (And yes, Moen is sending me a new one for free, which I'll use on the other sink in the master bath, which after 20 years, is pretty sticky).

In the kitchen, I started off much less confidently - I found the little electronically-controlled valve, but how would you clean that? And I suspected a replacement would be pricy. But then I went on line and woo-hoo! Turns out this faucet has easily accessible in-line filters _inside_ the end of the supply lines. I cleaned the cold water one, put it back in the line, and the cold water sprayed out of the supply line (through the filter) full-force. For about a second or two, then it slowed, and then nearly stopped again. (!)

Took out the filter again, and cleaned it out again. There is some kinda nasty crud in those lines. Let the cold water run until it was clear(er), and reassembled. Hooked up the faucet, turned it on, now _nothing_ from cold or hot (rats!). Quickly remembered I still had the supply valves shut off. (!)

Anyway, now working back like normal. But we may have to get the soft water guys or well guys out here cause the water (even the softened water) still looks pretty bad.

Kudos to you folks for the advice, and kudos to Moen for decent design and standing behind their products.