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Cleaning a Blocked Aerator
If one tap is weak and the rest of the house is fine, start here. It costs nothing and it works more often than anything else on this site.
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The aerator is the small screened insert in the end of the spout. It mixes air into the stream and it catches everything the water carries — grit, scale, fragments of pipe. As it blocks, the stream weakens and often sprays sideways.
How to do it
- Put the plug in, so nothing small disappears down the drain.
- Unscrew the aerator by hand, counter-clockwise looking up at it. If it is tight, wrap a cloth around it first and use pliers over the cloth so the finish is not marked.
- Note the order the parts come out in. There is usually a screen, a plastic insert and a rubber washer.
- Rinse it. If it is furred with scale, soak it in white vinegar for an hour and rinse again.
- Refit in the same order, hand-tight. Run the tap.
If it does not help
Try the fixture shut-off valve underneath — it may not be fully open. If the tap is still weak with a clean aerator and an open valve, the restriction is further back, and the other single-fixture causes are here. If every tap in the house is weak, this was never the problem — start with the whole-house checks instead.