Hey all, I am just a 2nd year apprentice plumber and I decided to remove my old and now leaking Hot Water Tank (leaking from inside above the gas burner). I decided to cut out and remove the old tank today and will get and install the new one tomorrow. That said, all the water pressure throughout the house is normal (for cold) except for both showers, which have mixing valves. The cold water pressure is very, very low. Did I do something wrong or is this just the nature of things? Thanks!

Hi RC

All shower valves have been temperature and pressure balanced for decades now. Basically, this means that a shower valve will "balance" the temperature of the water according to the VOLUME of water being fed into the valve. In your case, since you have no hot water feeding into the shower valve, you will see a corresponding drop in cold water volume/pressure just like you described.

Once you install the water heater and purge the lines your shower valves should be up and working properly again!

Good luck!

Mark