As a home inspector, personally evaluating functional flow can be a pain. I know what I think is decent flow. Client's opinions vary. If you have a client who is moving from a marginal well system, they might be impressed with a trickle. You get someone else who comes from a city supply, with no pressure reducer, and they are used to about 120 PSI and raging water. Even normal pressure and normal flow does not make them happy. They think it is wimpy.
Poor functional flow of water at sink faucets is very common----and very common with faucets that have aerators. Aerators are restrictors/filters at the end of the faucet that reduce the flow of water and add air to the flow to provide a less splattering flow of water as well as reduce water consumption to some extent.
As you can see at this faucet, with the hot water fully turned on, the flow is not very good----slow enough that no air is being introduced into the stream.
If you take the aerator off you will often find crud compacted in the screens. This picture shows all kinds of debris caught in the screen of a New Construction home----mostly construction debris from not adequately flushing the lines prior to installation of the fixtures.
Improving functional flow can be as simple as merely cleaning out the aerator. Deteriorating old galvanized pipes also clog up aerators. Some areas of the country that have really hard water, the screens can get plugged with minerals. These screens can be cleaned by soaking them in a small amount of vinegar. If you keep the aerator clean----the water should flow more freely.
As this one did when I cleaned all the gunk out of the aerator pictured above.
Charles Buell
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