I drained my hot water heater by turning the heater off, then turning the water to the heater off, then emptying it with a hose to a sink. I know now from reading all of these good questions/answers that I did not follow proper procedures. So now I have very low hot water pressure in the whole house, but REALLY low hot water pressure in the tub/shower fixture two levels up from the main water line and the heater. How do I get my much loved hot water pressure restored?

Hi SBob

Start by opening and closing and then reopening the water heater cold water shutoff valve that you previously touched....see if that helps.

Next, attach a hose to the water heater again, but this time, flush the water heater by letting water come out of the hose at full blast for a minute or so. How is the hot water flowing out the hose? If flow/pressure is good then the problem is past the cold water shut off into the heater. How is hot water flowing to the home now?

If that fails to restore hot water pressure, you want to look for a shut off valve on the hot water pipe(s). Start at the hot water outlet of the water heater and follow the hot water line. If you find a shut off in the hot water line, close it gently and then reopen it...see if that loosens some sediment.

Post back with results and please confirm that cold water is flowing from all faucets properly, OK?

Mark

Thank you massplumber; truly appreciate the info and will proceed per your suggestions ASAP and will report back. THANK YOU AGAIN!

Remove Aerators from each faucet and Shower head in each bathroom, run water w/o them installed and see if you get better flow... Back to you.. Milan

Hi massplumber,

Unfortunately, the solution you provided did not solve my hot water pressure problem. The problem seems even worse now as the hot water pressure in my upstairs shower seems even weaker now. It is such a pain now to take a shower as it's difficult to get the water temperature consistent when there is so much cold water coming out but so little hot pressure.

Hi Milan,

Thank you for your suggestion. I will do this as soon as possible and let you know the outcome. Everybody, cross your fingers...

Milan,

Again, thank you for your suggestion. Unfortunately, it had no effect on the hot water pressure. I even tried gently banging on the hot water tank's outlet pipe and nothing improved!! Any further help would be humbly accepted, but I really do appreciate all of the suggestion thus far.

Hi Sbob

You didn't answer a critical question I posed:

I said, "Next, attach a hose to the water heater again, but this time, flush the water heater by letting water come out of the hose at full blast for a minute or so. How is the hot water flowing out the hose?"

So, how was water flowing out of the hose...full pressure or a significantly reduced pressure?

Do as Mark suggests. That will tell you where your good pressure ends and low pressure begins. Once we establish last point of good pressure than we can proceed further.

In the interim: Do you have old galvanized pipe plumbing system in your house ?

Back to you. Milo

I apologize for missing the question. I believe the pressure coming hose when I flushed it this last time is as strong as it was when I originally "drained" the heater and caused this problem. Here is a quick picture of the pipes at the heater. Hope you can confirm if they are galvanized as I believe they are. 45527 Thank you all so much!! I welcome any other ideas!

Thanks for everyone's help. Finally called in a plumber. Turned out that the piec connecting the heater to the pipes at the outgoing hot water was completely clogged with sediment. I'm not sure how any water got through, but with a new connector piece, the pressure is simply awesome! Thanks for everyone's great help!!