How to Turbo-Charge a Trickling Shower

Q: The water pressure in my apartment is terrible and thus I never feel 100% clean. What can I do? –Charles P., New York, NY

A: Here at Gradspot.com, we don’t like to feel like we’re being peed on each time we take a shower, either. We feel for you. And so, we’ve compiled some of the best ways to make stepping into your shower feel like you’re walking into a monsoon.

Let It Flow

This isn’t environmentally sound, and doing it outside of your residence might even be illegal, but removing your showerhead’s flow restrictor might do the trick. What is a flow restrictor? It’s a little piece of plastic that blocks up some of the piping within your showerhead to conserve water. Al Gore must love them. For those of you who get sprinkled on in the morning, they can be your worst enemy. But don’t fret—a wrench, electrical or duck tape, and some Teflon tape can do the trick. Check out this helpful guide to removing and installing showerheads. One additional tip is that if you’re having trouble taking the showerhead off, run some very hot water through it first to soften up any gunk. However, once you’ve taken your showerhead off (and before you put it back on), check inside for a flow restrictor (if there’s something blocking half of the passageway where the water goes, you’ve hit gold). Use a pen or screwdriver to pry it out. Replace as per the guide and voila: super shower! Now keep it short to conserve that water…

New Showerheads

Even after removing the evil flow restrictor, water may still be trickling out. The next option: buy a new showerhead. Below are some of our favorites (remember to remove flow restrictors before installing):

• ResportSpa Showerhead and Oxygenics X-Stream Showerhead for some no-frills, high-pressure showering.

• Anystream 2000 Showerhead for those of us who are willing to sacrifice some pressure for a massaging stream

• Rainfall Showerhead for those of us who were entranced by the huge showerheads in SkyMall that boast a rainfall-like atmosphere (note: these aren’t high pressure, but are sweet anyway)

Or, check out these high-end showerheads. Just remember, if you’re changing the showerhead in a place that you’re renting, keep the old head so you can reinstall it before you leave and thus take you new showerhead with you to your next pad.

Move

If removing the flow restrictor AND changing showerheads haven’t worked, its not you’re shower, it’s the building. Odds are, the entire building doesn’t have water pressure. Often, this will be the case during peak hours when other people in the building are using lots of water (i.e., right before work, when you need it most). I hate to be the barer of bad news, but there’s nothing you can do about it. If moving isn’t an option, I hope your workplace has a gym, or you’re not averse to joining a snazzy one.

Stay clean! And don’t forget to read The Shower Enthusiast.