Hi, Sarah,
Are you talking about the cold water tap? The cold water in the kitchen comes straight from the mains supply via a pipe running from the main feed under the road. It comes into your house through a much smaller pipe that has a tap (the mains stop cock) which should be in your kitchen somewhere. They're generally tucked away under the sink or behind a unit. They should be fairly easy to find. Try turing this firstly to see if it will open a little further to let more water through. Although if it hasn't been disturbed, it shouldn't be causing any problem. If it hasn't been moved for a while, it may be stuck solid. All taps shouldn't be turned on fully, as this is when they jam. Turn it on fully, then back it off say half a turn. This way, they shouldn't seize up. If the tap is all horrible and gungy, then it may be that it's all blocking up with scale inside and possibly could be the cause of the problem. Needs replacing if this is the case. Plumber job, unfortunately. Next, the kitchen tap itself needs looking at. It may need stripping down to see if the washer is causing problems. I've had taps where the washer has slippd or has partially disintegrated and is blocking the inside of the tap. It's possible to do this yourself if you have a good set of large spanners, preferably ring, but make sure the mains stop cock is turned off, otherwise you'll have water everywhere! May need to be a plumber again. Another thing worth trying is to call the Water Board and ask if they've reduced the mains pressure. All the other taps in your house will be fed from the storage tank in the loft so they shouldn't change, but the kitchen tap could be affected by any drop in the mains pressure. Worth a go. That really is about it. There is nothing else that could be causing the problem. Hope this has helped. Have fun!!!
Denis Langley, March 2006
