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elbanditoroso's avatar

How does a shower head 'increase water pressure by 200%'?

Asked by elbanditoroso (33472points) 3 hours ago

I saw an ad on the web for a shower head replacement that promises to “increase water pressure by 200%”. I think it’s a crock, and I’m not even going to give the name of the device.

Theoretically, how could a shower head increase pressure by anything at all? If I am getting 65 gpm (as I am), how could any device increase what is coming from the city pipes?

Is this even possible?

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2 Answers

ragingloli's avatar

Maybe by forcing the water through a smaller opening, while maintaining the flow rate, which will increase the velocity of the water that makes it through. I have a showerhead with 3 different “pressure” settings, which simply blocks a part of the showerhead’s nozzles.

ragingloli (52177points)“Great Answer” (1points) Flag as…
Zaku's avatar

Yep, that’s how nozzles work.

Pressure is a function of force per amount of surface area. Reduce the surface area, and increase the pressure per surface area.

Same with rivers. The rapid areas are narrower.

Zaku (30529points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…

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