Water Spigot Pressure

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Jonny John

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Hi All.

I am currently having problems with the water pressure in both of my water spigots. To start I called the water company and they tested the pressure for the house from the main line. Main line is great and it's averaging over 26gpm. I live in a ranch home and there is one spigot in the front and back. They're on each side of my living room. Underneath my living room is a crawl space where the piping is ran.

Seems that the copper piping start from a shut off valve and then gets split and the piping goes to each spigot. The shut off valve is just for these pipes in the crawl space. Not sure where the piping runs from the shut off valve as it's going through the walls and what not. Right now both spigots lets out maybe 3gpm. This should be minimum 6gpm but more like 8-9gpm i'm told. I had a plumber come over and he wanted to run a new pipe directly from the main line going to my water heater. I don't think this is the problem. Cannot really follow the piping

Not sure where to start but trying not to make this a bigger project then it is. Any suggestions would be great!
 

hj

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You have not told us ANYTHING that would help us determine what, or where, the problem is and therefore cannot give a solution. BUT, DO NOT start throwing money at it until you know EXACTLY what has to be done.
 

Jonny John

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You have not told us ANYTHING that would help us determine what, or where, the problem is and therefore cannot give a solution. BUT, DO NOT start throwing money at it until you know EXACTLY what has to be done.
I am not even sure where to start and what to try first.
 
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I would tear off the spigots first, and see if you get good flow from the roughs. Bad spigots are you best case scenario.

If the removed spigots still gave poor flow, follow the copper path from the main line to your spigots, be prepared to cut randomly and look inside them, and be able to repair the cut with a coupler or sharkbite.

If you don't feel like doing this, call a plumber, and get money ready :)
 

Flapper

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I would test the pressure before removing the bibbs; that would help tell you if you have low pressure or a flow restriction.
 

Jonny John

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Don't seem to have any problems with water pressure in any part of the house inside. The piping all in the crawl space looks good. It's 1/2" copper piping that runs from the shut off valve to both spigots. PSI is almost 80.
 

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MKS

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Make sure you know the path from where the water enters the house to the spigots.
You have found one shut off valve.
What type is it, gate, quarter turn ball?
Is it open all the way?
Gate requires many turns ball just a quarter .
Is there another one in the line somewhere?
Did they work before then suddenly go low flow?
Was other work done in the plumbing recently?
How old?
Hard water?
 

Jonny John

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The shut of valve that I'm talking about is not for the whole house. There is a shut off valve in my crawl space. When open, allows the water to flow in to the copper pricing that goes to both of the spiqots. I'm not sure exactly where the water is coming from on the other side of the shut of valve as the pipe's go into the wall and I cannot trace it. Could be coming from the bathroom on the other side of the wall, could be going up into the attic, have no idea.

The shut off valve is a gate type. Have to turn it a few times counter clock wise in order to open it. I am not sure how old the gate is. I moved into the home 5ys ago and never changed it. Although yes I made sure it was turned all the way and opened. There are no other shut off valves in the crawl space going to these spiqots. Never really paid attention to the pressure of the water spiqots until recently when I wanna to hook up some sprinklers.

I did have a water heater installed in January.
 

CountryBumkin

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My guess is that the shutoff valve is not opening fully. Maybe there is junk clogging up the valve and it is only opening half way. Count the number of turns from fully closed to fully open then compare with a new valve of same type (i.e. go to HD). But could also be that valve is fully open but partially clogged.
 

Jonny John

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I will check this evening the bibb for both spiqots and will also check the shut off valve to see if it's opening all the way or if it's clogged.
 

Reach4

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Don't seem to have any problems with water pressure in any part of the house inside. The piping all in the crawl space looks good. It's 1/2" copper piping that runs from the shut off valve to both spigots. PSI is almost 80.
Note the red hand, which is used to record the peak pressure. 118 is too high, although you may never have a symptom at that level. The water pressure may be rising due to you needing an expansion tank. You could test for that by causing a faucet to slowly drip overnight. That should release the pressure caused by thermal expansion. Sometimes that lazy/tattletale hand responds to vibration, so it is not sure that the water pressure actually rose to 118.
 

Jonny John

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Note the red hand, which is used to record the peak pressure. 118 is too high, although you may never have a symptom at that level. The water pressure may be rising due to you needing an expansion tank. You could test for that by causing a faucet to slowly drip overnight. That should release the pressure caused by thermal expansion. Sometimes that lazy/tattletale hand responds to vibration, so it is not sure that the water pressure actually rose to 118.
Greatly appreciate the input. So what exactly are you suggesting and how do you think I can improve the water pressure? I don't hear any vibration in the pipes.
 

Reach4

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Greatly appreciate the input. So what exactly are you suggesting and how do you think I can improve the water pressure? I don't hear any vibration in the pipes.
You could try light tapping on the gauge and see how that affects the needle. If your readings are irregular and unpredictable, vibration effects could be the reason. I am suggesting resetting the red needle tonight and see if you get a similar peak tomorrow. Try it one night with no faucet set to drip, and try it another night with a faucet set to lightly drip.

Let's say you do get such a peak with the water dripping. That would mean that officially you should get a PRV and a thermal expansion tank. I am not sure that I would do what is officially called for, but I might. I would expect that the peak would be fairly constant in value, and the peak pressure might be at 4 AM give or take while the city run its pumps during cheaper electricity times.

On the other hand, suppose you get high numbers with no drip, but not when you have the dripping faucet. That would tend to say that you should get an expansion tank because your water meter has a check (one way) valve in it. The pressure you would see in that case would be highest after you use a hot water, and then use no water for an hour.
 
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Gary Swart

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It seems to me you guys are talking about two different things. Pressure and flow are not the same thing. This has been discussed countless times on this forum, so I'll not do it again.
 

Jonny John

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It seems to me you guys are talking about two different things. Pressure and flow are not the same thing. This has been discussed countless times on this forum, so I'll not do it again.
I need the water to come out faster. I'm not a plumber but I would think the more pressure you have the faster the water would flow. Is that not correct? I'm just looking for a solution to fix my problem.
 

Reach4

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I need the water to come out faster. I'm not a plumber but I would think the more pressure you have the faster the water would flow. Is that not correct? I'm just looking for a solution to fix my problem.
OK... When you have the pressure gauge on one spigot, and you open the other spiggot, what happens to the water pressure on the gauge?
 

MKS

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It would seem to be a flow problem.
If the gauge is on the outdoor spigot you might investigate how to disassemble that spigot. If you can do that you may find debris etc. You could also with a helper turn the main on and note the flow without the valve in, protect the eyes.
 

Jonny John

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I never have both spiqot's running at the same time. I mostly only use the spiqot in the front of my house. I am going to inspect the spiquot shortly and will see if I see any debri's inside. Do you all think the spiqot could be the problem not allowing the water to come out fast enough?

I'm am going to check tonight to make sure the shut off valve turns correctly and the spiqot seems clear.
 

Flapper

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The pressure reading indicates that you have enough pressure, and there is a restriction in flow.
What hose bibb is it? Some hose bibbs don't have a very big opening and they restrict flow. American Valve makes a ball valve hose bibb that is full flow, available at Lowe's. The ball valve hose bibbs at Home Depot are from Mueller and they have a small ball and restrict like 2/3 of the flow.
 
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