Water Pressure in Home?

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Aleforge

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I recently moved into a new home and our water pressure SUCKS. I know there is a bell valve down in the basement the main goes through. I made some slight adjustments thinking it was just turned down low but nothing changed. Is there anyway to boost water pressure in the home outside of the bell. I am guessing the underground water shutoff the water company messes with is off limits.:D

I turned the valve a few revolutions, I am guessing far enough to notice some change? I was afraid of unscrewing it until it came out if that's possible.

The water pressure at my old house was awesome, this really is depressing.
 
depends on a couple things. one would be to find out how much build up you have in your lines. they could be full. could be the actual shutoff at the curb. or you could just have low pressure cause your at the end of the line. get a high efficency shower head can help fetting the feeling of higher water pressure if its in the shower your worried about. i have too high water pressure. i keep having to replace the crapper valve =(
 
Question (s)

Hot water pressure, Cold Water pressure, or both?

Do you have a hard water filtration system?


I would call the water company and ask if the person who checks your meter once a month could "call stop" i.e let you know when he will be by and he can check your "main stand valve".

When the dude shows up tell him about the valve in your basement and ask if he can "make sure you were turning it the right way" making sure you have home brew stored by the valve.

Now you can make a friend who works for the water company and will be able to give you advice for free beer.
 
House is 4 years old, all copper piping. I don't know if we are at the end of a line, but we are not at the end of the street so it makes me think no.

We do seem to have fairly hard water (lots of soap scum and buildup very fast) the next report doesn't come out until June. (I use spring water to brew until then)

How much do you have to turn the valve to get it to make a noticeable difference? I am guessing several revolutions, which I did so it must not be it.

Oh and its both, but I was testing this all on the cold side. My daughters slip n slide doesn't even have enough pressure for the little sprayers to keep the surface soaked. Kids started freaking this evening so I got pissed and went in and started cranking the valve.

No filtration system, or softener, the only thing I have seen is a resevour on the hot side to keep from scalding during a toilet flush.

Thanks for the help!
 
Adjusting the shutoff valve won't make any difference, it isn't a pressure regulator. If your neighbors don't have a problem, I'd call the water company, they can check the static pressure (no flow). If that is ok, then you have a blockage somewhere.

My house is higher than the water system's main tank and the water pressure can get so low in the summer, that I can't take a shower. The pressure was ok at night, so I installed a 25 gallon surge tank. It charges up when the pressure is higher and the back-flow preventers keep the pressure up.

(Some houses do have pressure regulators. Mostly in hilly areas. But, these are almost always down by the meter.)
 
I will go out and look today, I know its 3/4 on the inside of the basement. Also just emailed my water company to see if this was an area wide problem!
 
If you are on municipal water, call the water company. They should have recorded the static water pressure to the meter at the time of install. From there, you could test teh static pressure at a hose bib. If they are significantly different or your city says the static is 60psi or greater, you have a pressure reducer somewhere.

Also, is the pressure crap throughout the house or just at a few spots? If the latter, it could be plugged sediment traps.

Not sure what the "bell" thing is. Could be a non-adjustable PR or a backflow preventer. Do you have a lawn irrigation system?
 
Yes I have a lawn irrigation system, and yes its a problem at every faucet in the home. Showers suck, watering / washing things with the hose is crappy and you can't even use a stupid slip n slide that's gonna kill my grass. Don't get me started on filling up a cup at the fridge, ugh.
 
Well, since you have a lawn irrigation system I'd wager that the pressure to the meter is decent. IIRC, irrigation systems meed between 30-40psi to function properly and are damaged by pressures above 60psi so, I suspect you may have a pressure reducer that is outta whack. Perhaps this bell thing is a non-adjustable (if that exists) or the system is packed with scale already. Unlikley but possible.

I had a 3 year old water heater with crap heating efficiency. Replaced it and opened it up to find a 12" thick layer of the white (calcium) sediment packed like a rock into the bottom.

Now, I make sure to flush the heater annually before it has a chance to pack in. I am still surprised each year at how much comes out.
 
Update, the water company stopped by today and checked my pressure. They left a note that said the following,

PSI at home - 40 PSI
Main- 90 - 100 PSI
If the pressure inside your house has changed I suggest checking your PRV Pressure reducing valve. Thanks

So, its 90-100 PSI coming "into" my house from the main, so I should have "90-100" available at the PRV valve?

I guess they checked my outside faucet, and got 40PSI, so somethings wrong right?
 
The above link is what I was messing with, I was "un-screwing it" to try and increase pressure. So you guys think it needs to be actually tightened to increase it? Maybe that is what I was doing wrong. Besides a tag showing the range, it didn't say which way to turn it.

All my sprinkler heads will be turning into missiles! lol
 
dont forget that PRV valve works just like a CO2 regulator. Clockwise =increases pressure, counter clockwise reduces pressure. Maybe you went the wrong way. Do small adjustments , since you have an irrigation system you dont want to open her up all the way.

You can also buy a pressure gauge at lowes etc. To measure it yourself. Fairly cheap.
 
Yep I was turning it to "unscrew" it after I did it a few revolutions and noticed no change I put it back where it was. I never tried to "tighten" so hopefully I can do that tonight and be done with it. Obviously it was set on its lowest setting if unscrewing didn't make it worse. Hopefully its not broke! Thanks for the help!
 
Yep I was turning it to "unscrew" it after I did it a few revolutions and noticed no change I put it back where it was. I never tried to "tighten" so hopefully I can do that tonight and be done with it. Obviously it was set on its lowest setting if unscrewing didn't make it worse. Hopefully its not broke! Thanks for the help!


There's probably nothing wrong with it. They do go out and sometimes debris get stuck in them. When they go out you'll have a slew of symptoms like low water pressure, high water pressure , maybe even some pipe chattering. I bet its fine , just turn her clockwise maybe 1 full turn, you should notice a difference.
 
Update:

I cranked her up, and up, and UP! MAX POWER!!!!!! *evil laugh*

And... not much, "we think" it could be a little higher pressure, but not that noticeable of a difference. Not when it says it goes up to 75 psi and we have a confirmed 40psi output....

I followed the lines, every single line and noticed nothing but standard copper pipe. The only wall between the outside world my house is a simple ball valve for main shut off and that pressure control valve.

So does this mean I need to replace it with a new one?
 
Ok, just to confirm , you turned the PRV screw clockwise? And you have a pressure guage to test?
 
Yep clockwise, it bottomed out. And no tester I had the water company test my output prior to messing with it. I figured cranking on it should make a difference to the naked eye, but just in case I timed the fill of a measuring vessel before and after the adjustments. I "think" I am filling up maybe 1 second faster but it could be wishful thinking and bad note taking.

Wouldn't you think 40 - 75 psi would make a noticeable difference?
 
Well when mine was going out, we could only use one shower at at at time, or the water would just drip. The pipes were banging alot too. You can look up your model, the guts of the PRV should be replaceable by buying a kit. You might want to take some pressure readings just to make sure its definatley not working.

Just curious, how did all this start. Did you ever have good pressure and now you don't.

If you're gonna DIY it, replacing the guts is a good way to go. If you're gonna have someone do it, I suggest replacing the whole PRV. I paid $150 to have it dug up and replaced.
 
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