Water Pressure in House

Unknown

Like this, would do the trick...

http://www.goulds.com/product.asp?ID=92&MASTERID=3

Noel

Wayco Wayne_2

I have a house

that has low water pressure. When someone is taking a shower and a toilet is flushed the shower goes down to a trickle. There is no pressure reducing valve on the water feed to the house. I have a feeling that is all that is availible in an old section of town. What can be done to improve the situation???. Thanks in advance. WW

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Mike T., Swampeast MO

Have you

measured static (no water running) pressure? It's good to measure in the morning when you suspect usage in the neighborhood is high. If you get at least 50#, pressure isn't the problem. Sedimented pipes (including service entrance), kink in the loop before the meter, restriction in the system are all possible causes.

Weezbo

heres a quick test....

go out and hook up a hose bib tomorrow morning turn it on full blast ..... if it drops off go down stairs get another hose hook it to the building drain down (hose bib looking deal by the service entrance usually ).. hook the hose to it turn it on....if same thing occurs and doesnt clear the sediments out then you have some problem that is corretable however wasnt corrected by those actions. now if you get great water pressure and volume ,...then it is in the line To the rest of the building,there fore id leave the outside hose bib on and look at the water quality by running the hose discharge on a piece of some white flat board,if or when it clears up turn on the bath tubs cold water side full blast run about 20 gallons into each tub,flush all the toilets.. take the strainers off all the sinks,open all of them,go back turn the bath tubs off turn the outside hose off,turn on the cold water on the sinks,if all this seems to be working go hook the water heater drain connection to a hose after shutting off all the sinks,open the hose drain it Down,if nothing is comming out theres a problem.... you tell us, one of us will divine a means of correcting this or at least give you a "Plan"

jackchips_2

Mike has a

good suggestion. I would add that you call the local water department and ask them what the static and residual pressure is in the street and if they have an idea what the material is from the main into the house.

Old galvanized mains have been known to plug up to almost no opening. Most towns here in Mass require you to take care of this line yourself. In my home town the water company will excavate at the town corporaton valve and pull a new copper line for homeowners for a nominal fee.

Keep us updated. Good luck.

Jack

Geo_2

water service

Around here the city will send a jelly bean threw your main to clear it out, yea thats what I said till I saw it, they disconnected everything at the main, throw in a full port ball valve w/a nipple, drop a jelly bean into the nip and attach a hand pump, pump to 150lbs and open the ball valve quickly and away it goes back into the main and hopefully clearing the line out.

Robert O'Connor_7

Just when I though I heard everything...

A jelly bean?? You are joking, right??? Robert O'Connor/NJ

Mark Hunt

Sell them


a new house silly!

Opportunity only knocks once!

Mark H

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Floyd_5

Hookup one of these....

http://www.jbdpumps.com/catalog/2004/04ws94_95.pdf

with one of these...
http://www.jbdpumps.com/catalog/2004/04ws100_100.pdf

Fast and easy... will keep the pressure right where you want it...hookin' one up in the morning for a haouse that gots the same problem...

Floyd_5

Hey, some 2\" pvc ....

a 2" valve and some 4" pvc for an air chamber will put tater outta sight.....

so I guess you could put some kicka** force behind that thar jelly bean....

Larry Weingarten

I'd start...

by putting a gauge on the bibb where the water service enters the house. Check static pressure. Run a couple of taps in the house and check pressure again. If it falls off a lot, there is substantial loss in the main line. Replace it first as it usually is easier than repiping the house. Another way is to put a well tank on the main as it enters the house. This works nicely if the static pressure is good but gives poor flow. A restricted main fills the tank at leisure which gives decent pressure for moderate draws. The bigger the well tank, the less moderate the water draws need to be! If you didn't get much fall in pressure from the main, check for mixed metal connections, (brass to steel) where rust can clog things up. Angle stops on steel pipe are a regular culprit. Good flow anywhere suggests generally good plumbing that has some restriction needing to be fixed. Hope that helps.

Weezbo

Well ....:)

Whazzup? all galvi piping with pencil thin pass ways blocked by calcification and sediments?angle stops that dont close without crunching sounds?whaat?

Constantin

In Cambridge, MA...

... a flow test is $100. We found our static to be 37psi, residual 30 psi. Not much, really. Cambridge also forced us to post a bond for the "new" water line they allegedly had installed for the previous homeowner. As best as we can tell, that "new" water line (galvanized steel pipe) was at least 40+ years old...

oh...and we got to pay for the entire service swap, including tearing up and resurfacing the street to get at the main. Not cheap.

Anyway, we're going with a Amtrol pressure booster. That should get us back up to 60 psi in a hurry.

Matt Undy

40+?

Are you sure its that new? The city of Ann Arbor MI outlawed galvanized services in 1929. The only galvanized services I have seen were very old. The houses of the 50's with galvanized inside still had a copper service. Of course this leaves one question, what did they use in the 30's if the copper tube systems we use now were developed in the 30's (It would take a while from development to deployment).

This also makes me ask when flexible copper supply lines came into use. I don't think I have ever seen a sink with a deck mounted faucet connected in any previous technology no matter how old the fixture. I belive that the connectiosn on the faucet are 1/2" non-tapered pipe thread and I have heard that theaded pipe was originally piped directly to them but have never seen it.

Matt

Constantin

My understanding is...

...that that galvanized line was put in the twenties. Sometime after that they switched the house from lead pipes in the potable water supply to copper. However, judging from the piecemeal approach taken and the plethora of different valve styles (all gate), my guess is that it was a evolutionary upgrade, rather than a blitzkrieg all-at-once approach.

The new system will look somewhat out of place since

• the piping will be minimal but properly sized for the job
• the piping will be straight, not curvy, and installed according to a plan
• No gate valves are allowed. US-made full-port ball valves only, please
• recirculating the hot water is a fairly modern concept
• the water heater will not attempt to kill the house inhabitants

You get the idea. The two new mains coming into the house are copper, BTW.

hr

www.wellmanager.com

has a system for low pressure low flow problems, both well and city water systems.

hot rod

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