Low water pressure: why, and what to do

One question first: where is the pressure low?

The answer in 2 lines. Start with one question: is the pressure low at one tap, only on the hot water, in the whole home, or in the whole street? The answer tells you where to look. A scaled-up tap aerator takes ten minutes to clean. A half-closed stop tap is common after work in the house. If your neighbours have the same problem, check your water company's website for work or a burst in your area, and report it. If the problem lasts, your water company must look into it, and you may be owed a payment under the Guaranteed Standards Scheme.

The first 3 steps

Try several taps, cold then hot, including the kitchen cold tap (it usually comes straight off the mains).
Ask a neighbour whether their pressure has dropped too, and check your water company's website for work or problems at your postcode.
Check your stop tap is fully open (anticlockwise), without forcing it.

Where to look, depending on what you see

One tap or the shower only: a scaled-up tap aerator or shower head, a worn tap cartridge, or a kinked shower hose. Clean the aerator or shower head.
Hot water only: in a home with a hot water cylinder and a cold tank in the loft (a "gravity" system), hot taps are naturally weaker than the kitchen cold tap. With a combi boiler, hot water flow is limited by the boiler and drops when two taps run at once. A sudden drop: a part-closed valve, a blocked filter or the boiler itself: call a Gas Safe registered engineer for a gas boiler.
The whole home: stop tap not fully open, a blocked filter or pressure-reducing valve after the stop tap, a leak, or an old, narrow or shared supply pipe (common in older terraced houses).
The whole street or building: work, a burst main or high demand on the network, or a booster pump in a block of flats. Report it to your water company, or to your building manager.

The simple fixes, in order

Tap aerator: unscrew the tip of the tap, rinse the mesh and soak it in white vinegar or descaler, then refit it.
Shower head: same treatment, soaked in descaler.
Stop tap: open it fully, without forcing. After building work it is often left half closed.
Isolating valves under sinks and on appliances: check the slot or lever lines up with the pipe (open).
Leak check if you have a meter: everything off, read the meter, use no water for an hour or two, read it again. If it has moved, a leak could also explain the low pressure: see our hidden leak guide.

What not to do

Taking apart a pressure-reducing valve or filter without turning the water off first.
Fitting a booster pump straight onto the mains supply without asking your water company: the water fittings regulations restrict pumps that draw directly from the supply pipe.
Removing a pressure-reducing valve "to get more flow": it protects your hot water cylinder, hoses and appliances.

What your water company must do

The reference level: water companies in England work to a reference level of 10 metres head (about 1 bar) at the boundary stop tap, with a flow of 9 litres a minute. Below that, report it: they should investigate.
Guaranteed Standards Scheme: if your pressure falls below the minimum set in the scheme on repeated occasions, you may be owed a payment. In July 2025 the government announced that these payments would double, with some payments for serious failures reaching up to £2,000. Amounts and conditions change: check the current ones on CCW — What standards are guaranteed?, and how to claim on Citizens Advice — Claiming compensation from water companies.
Not happy with the answer: complain to the water company first, then ask CCW (the Consumer Council for Water) for free help.
If you rent: the landlord must keep the installations for the supply of water in repair (Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, section 11). Report a lasting problem in writing.

Good to know

Pressure is often lower at peak times (early morning, evening) and in homes high on a hill or on upper floors.
In a block of flats with a booster pump, a drop for everyone is a job for the building manager or freeholder.
The rules are similar in Wales; Scotland (Scottish Water) and Northern Ireland (NI Water) have their own standards.

In your city: your water company

Your water company's name and number are on your bill. Most have a postcode checker for work and supply problems on their website.

London: Thames Water for most of the city (a few outer areas have a different supplier: check your bill).
Birmingham: Severn Trent.
Manchester and Liverpool: United Utilities.
Leeds and Sheffield: Yorkshire Water.
Newcastle: Northumbrian Water.
Bristol: Bristol Water for the water supply.

In Bristol, Sam has only a trickle at the kitchen tap, but the bathroom runs fine. He unscrews the aerator at the tip of the tap: the mesh is coated with limescale. A night in white vinegar, a rinse, and the flow is back.

A made-up story, for illustration.

Bobby

Sources, verification, confidence

Verified on 1 November 2026, for England. Confidence: high for the checks and where to look; high for the 10 metres / 9 litres reference level (WaterSafe, CCW); high that the government announced in July 2025 that Guaranteed Standards Scheme payments would double; medium for the exact amounts and conditions today, which you should check on the CCW page; medium for the booster pump rule: ask your water company before fitting one. This guide describes common cases, not a diagnosis.