Low or No Water Pressure

Sooner or later there will come a time when you discover, sometimes at an inopportune moment, that the water pressure in your RV is either very low or there is no flow at all.

If you are not in the habit of changing your in-line water filter every year, be aware, that, over time, these filters will slowly fill up with gunk—slowly (and often unnoticed) lessen the pressure and flow through the filter.

If you are experiencing low pressure/poor flow in your RV, the first thing to check is whether the problem is with the RV park water supply or the problem is on your side of the hose bib. First, turn off the water at the RV site hose bib and then disconnect your water hose from the spigot. Turn the water back on and see if there is plenty of pressure and flow. If this is the case, then the problem is on your side.

Also check the obivious. Make sure that there is not some restriction in the hose (like a kink between the hose bib and your RV). Usually, you will find that the water pressure is just fine.

If the pressure/flow problem is on your side of the RV site hose bib, then there are two things to check out. The problem is usually a plugged up water filter. To check whether this is the problem, unscrew the water filter from your RV (after turning off the water at the RV site hose bib—unless you are ready for your weekly hose down, brrrr). Turn the water back on and see if the pressure and flow coming out of your filter is about the same as you experienced directly from the hose bib.

If the filter is plugged up, there will be little or no flow of water coming out of your filter. If that is the case, you have solved your problem—throw away the old water filter and install a new one. You do carry a replacement one, don't you?

As I recently learned, much to my surprise, the water filter is not the only culprit causing low pressure or no flow. I had made the above-mentioned checks and found that the pressure through my water filter was just fine (it had been recently replaced). I checked to be sure that my water valves were in the correct positions (not flushing the black tank and not filling my fresh water tank).

Continuing down the path of where the water should be going, my next stop was at the water pressure regulator (usually never a problem). Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my pressure regular was totally plugged up—not allowing any water flow at all! I also checked the very-fine-mesh filter screen at the input to the regulator, and there was no crud in the screen at all.

Putting a new water pressuire regulator back in the line solved my pressure/flow problem — and I added another chapter to my ever-growing book of RV experiences.

A good lesson learned. If you have low water pressure or no flow in your RV, there might be two different solutions—either the in-line water filter or the in-line water pressure regulator. It seems as though RVers are always learning something new.