Hello...I'm a relative "newb" when talking about home improvement/repair stuff so I hope you can forgive my lack of technical jargon.

I've been living in this house for 2 1/2 years and all this time, my kitchen sink's faucet seems to have a problem with pressure. It's a combo faucet that produces a regular stream, or with a push of the button on top, it produces a spray. I generally use the spray as it seems to have a little more force to it than the normal stream.

I don't think it's a problem with the water pressure throughout the house because my 2 bathroom sinks will blast water out when the faucet is completely open, as does the bathtub and shower stall.

I'm wondering if the kitchen faucet could be a low-flow model? I looked at the aerator and saw "22 gpm" on it. Any idea what a typical faucet flows at? I can't determine who manufactured the faucet though, at least not from the top side.

I am considering getting a new faucet anyway as the sprayer function has recently stopped staying on when I push the button (I have to hold it to keep it going otherwise it goes back to the normal stream). I'm just trying to determine if there's some other issue going on with the plumbing before I go spending money on a new faucet that may not even fix the issue.

Another bit of info, though possibly irrelevant: The cold water line has another line tapped off of it which feeds the refrigerator's water dispenser and ice-maker. I was thinking that could be the cause of the low pressure so I closed that valve and it made no difference.

Any thoughts? Thank you!

 

22GPM sounds REALLY high! More likely is would be a 2.2GPM.

The ice maker being taped off the same line will no effect on your water pressure as you have already found out.

How old is the house?

 

It could be 2.2...the print is so small and my eyesight isn't the greatest so I'll have to double check.

The house was built in 1985 but the faucet seems newer than that. But I could be wrong...the faucet can pull out and it just seems too "fancy" to have been the original one for the house.

 

Could be as simple as the aerators plugged up, remove it to see if it's loaded up.
If it's one of those faucets with the pull out sprayer built in sprayers in the faucet there's just tiny plastic lines inside that hose and there's always going to be low flow.

 

Thanks all for the suggestions. I just checked the faucet again and it is indeed 2.2 gpm...it was hard to distinguish that small period between the 2s at first.

I've attached some pictures of what I'm working with. Here's the whole faucet overall:



I tried removing the aerator, but I can't figure out how to get it out from this faucet, or if there's even one present. I'm assuming there would be...



Here's the stream full-blast on the kitchen sink:



...compared to the bathroom sink:




I just feel that the kitchen's stream should be as powerful as the bathroom, but if that's not the case with this setup (as it seems joecaption may be stating), then I guess I'll just have to deal with it.

 

The black center part should unscrew to access the aerator. You can clean it or you might see a water saver part and remove it.

2.2 GPM sounds more realistic and I suspect that is why the low flow. At that rate it would take 2-3 mins to fill your sink.

 

The aerator is the part on the end with the 4 notches and it should simply unscrew. Use a pair of butter knives set in opposite notches like a really wide screw driver to turn it out. Flush and re-install.

 

Thanks all, I will try removing it this evening and see if cleaning it out helps any. And yes, if I use the regular stream, it takes forever to fill even the smallest pots with water. I end up switching to the spray to speed it along some.

 

Disconnect the supply lines. Using a separate supply line, flush the angle stop valves into a bucket and see how the flow is. If flow is fine, check the supply lines for any blockage. The blockage will be just inside the nut. This is where some manufacturers install the flow restrictors and they can get clogged.

It would be best to identify the faucet, as you can probably get parts under lifetime warranty. Have you checked under the sink for a sticker attached to one of the supply lines?

 

It seems I've made some "accidental progress"... Lol.

In an effort to remove the aerator, one thing I was trying was to tap-with some force-the faucet to see if it would just pop out. I also tried some needle-nosed pliers to see if it would unscrew but still neither worked.

I went under the sink and was jostling the supply lines around, and did determine its a Moen faucet based on the weight snapped to the sprayer's line.

Then I turned the faucet on and suddenly there's a good deal more flow than before. I don't know if it was fiddling with the lines or whacking the faucet head, but something loosened up...I've got the faucet soaking in some white vinegar now just to see if that helps.

 

I would contact Moen and request a new spray wand. The spray/stream button is not really a serviceable part.