How to Flush Water Lines

A weak stream of water from your faucet is often caused by a buildup of sediment. Flushing out your water lines can frequently clear out any trapped hard water or mineral deposits. Watch and learn how to easily flush out water lines.

Video Transcription

Hi, Iʼm Tom from Signature Hardware. Today I'm going to show you how to flush the water lines on your bathroom faucet.

If your faucet has uneven or weak water flow, it may be caused by a buildup of sediment. Iʼm going to show you how to restore normal water flow and get your faucet working like brand new.
Weʼre going to need a couple of tools for our job, nothing fancy, just pliers, a wrench, a rag, a small work towel and a large bucket.

The first thing we are going to do is remove and clean the faucet aerator. The aerator helps give your faucet a steady controlled water flow and actually conserves water.
It's located right at the tip of the faucet where the water comes out. Place your towel over the sink drain. We donʼt want any important pieces falling down the drain!

Now we can remove the aerator. Simply unscrew the aerator from the faucet with a counter-clockwise rotation using your hand.
Sometimes sediment build up inside just makes it too hard to unscrew the aerator by hand. Thatʼs why we have the pliers.
Simply place your rag over the aerator to protect the finish, secure with the pliers and turn clockwise to unscrew the aerator from the faucet.

The aerator is made up of several parts. Usually a rubber gasket a filter and a housing that connects the whole thing to the faucet, but faucets vary slightly by make, so your aerator may look a little different than ours here. The important thing is to make sure that all the pieces go back in the same way that they came out.
Line the pieces up on a cloth so you donʼt get them mixed up. Then rinse them off one at a time to remove any sediment that may have built up.

Next reassemble the aerator and screw it back onto the faucet in a counterclockwise motion. No need to use the pliers here. Hand tight should be just fine.
Turn on your water to check the water flow. If the water flow looks good and strong, thatʼs it, youʼre done.

Most of the time cleaning the aerator solves your problem, but if your faucet still has weak or uneven flow, youʼll want to go on to the next step.
First turn off the shut off valves located under your sink. Twist them clockwise as far as you can.
Now turn on the hot and cold faucet taps to release any water that is still in the lines.

After the water drains out of the lines, turn the taps off again. Using your handy wrench remove the waterlines from the underside of your faucet and place both ends into your bucket.
Next open up your shut off valves and let the water flow into the bucket for about 30 seconds.

Close the shut off valves again and reattach the water lines to the faucet. Use your wrench to make sure that they are tight. Just a little more than hand tight is fine.
Now reopen the shut off valve and check to make sure the faucet doesnʼt have any leaks and turn on your taps to check the water flow.

If you have any questions, check out signaturehardware.com. or call customer service at 1.866.855.2284.

Thanks for watching!