Which City water pressure booster pump is right for me to increase PSI ?

[PumpMd]

Using small pipe will decrease your flow and pressure inside the pipe.

To get what you want, you need high volume,more pressure, and flow velocity at the end of your run.

I'm on a well. I can hook my shower head up to my yard hydrant that gets 13gpm output and I will have strong flow velocity and pressure coming out my shower head. This is where you show people what it can do with the water saver device and without it.

 

[LLigetfa]

Sounds like your water heater is filling up with deposits

I agree. There have been a few pictures posted here over the years of a cutaway tank showing how much tanks can accumulate. A quick google search didn't turn one of those up but I found this one on another site. Not only does the deposits displace water, but they also reduce flow and reduce recovery time.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[PumpMd]

I posted my own hot water tank on my Raw well water. The first time that I cleaned mine out they were really big chunks. They were so big that there was no way they were going to come out the drain. I use the bigger hole from the bottom heating element to break them up.

You probably need to soak your shower head in lime-a-way as well.

 

[Gregmech26]

More pressure will likely give you more GPM and result in shorter showers. 80 PSI is the max pressure that most codes allow. As a civil libertarian, you can choose to ignore it but you might start having issues such as the TPR relieving.

The water heater says the TPR won't relieve until it hits 150 psi. I've never had an issue in my lifetime with it relieving. I just want things to be the way they were, which I'm guessing was around 120 psi.

 

[Gregmech26]

Sounds like your water heater is filling up with deposits. Mine does that and I have to flush out a BUNCH of hard water deposits that break off the heating elements and fill up the WH tank.

My water heater is only 3 years old. Do you think sediment would really affect it this sevrely at only 3 years of age?

We are on Detroit municipal (City) water, which is considered to be one of the very best City water's available. I think it's considered as very "soft" water; however, it has tons of calcium and chlorine in it.... among other things.

I just had a plumber drain it at the 1.5 year mark and it had no effect on the water pressure, and the length of hot showers continues to decrease.

No need for CLR on the shower head, as we have soft city water. I've never seen any sediment in the shower head in my lifetime living here; however, I have the water heater set to the maximum heat setting so perhaps this extreme heat is eroding the rod/tank faster creating sediment?

We don't have any "scald" protection feature, as I quickly found out one day when i accidentely scalded my hand.

I think the water booster pump/tank combo that was suggested earlier would give me the added psi and still be in "code."

 

[Gregmech26]

Get a water pressure gauge. Check the pressure on the WH drain during a shower.

Check the pressure at the lavatory hot during a shower. How? Get an adapter for the aerator thread to mount the gauge. Try searching with a search engine. aerator ght adapter could be a starting search.

How does this help? Identifying where the pressure drops lets you fix stuff. If the pressure was 30 psi at the tank drain, and 66 psi at your incoming cold, the input to the WH would be a good place to start. Easy thing: is the valve open all of the way? From there it gets harder, but not that hard.

If the WH drain is 63 psi, but the lav is 40 psi, you would look at the output of the WH or farther along.

I think everything is fine. I just miss the water pressure the City use to put out before building their new local water tower. I don' think there's anything wrong in the plumbing.

Maybe getting a new water heater would solve all my (plumbing) problems?

 

[Valveman]

If you want more pressure tank the city is providing, a booster pump is the only option.

 

[Gregmech26]

Thank you.

I remember 3 years ago when we installed the new water heater the shower pressure and heat capacity was very good. At that time, our new city water tower was already online. This makes me think there is an issue with our now 3-year-old Bradford White 50-gallon fast-recovery water heater.

Anyways, I will continue to look into my options.

 

[Reach4]

Get the water pressure gauge. A pressure gauge with a garden hose thread can go on the drain for the water heater to see if you are getting much pressure drop up to that point. Under $20, and maybe a lot under.

 

[Gregmech26]

Get the water pressure gauge. A pressure gauge with a garden hose thread can go on the drain for the water heater to see if you are getting much pressure drop up to that point. Under $20, and maybe a lot under.

I know this thread is extremely long ;however, I posted the results last year.

I get just under 6 GPM with my shower head.

I had 72 PSI at the Water Heater while the shower was running at 6 GPM.
This measurement was recorded on Sunday night around 11:3opm Eastern time.

I had 66 PSI at the outside hose spigot (on the other side of the house) while the shower was running at 6 GPM.
This measurement was recorded 10 minutes later around 11:40pm Eastern time.

Visually, the water pressure looks MUCH MUCH MUCH stronger coming out of that hose spigot, than the water pressure in my shower head.

For example, I can barely place my hand underneath the hose spigot without my hand being pushed aside. I would love to have that kind of water pressure coming out of my shower head.

To fix my problem I suppose I want:

1.) Around 8-to-10 GPM coming out of my shower head.
2.) About 100-125 psi


***UPDATE**

A more recent test I performed in December 2017 gave me 72 PSI when I turned the basement shower on, which are the same results as last year. It was 78 PSI at the water heater before I turned on the basement shower or hose spigot.

Some suggest that 66 psi should drill a hole in the back of the shower wall; however, when I take the shower head off the shower arm I only see a tick solid rope of water arching halfway to the midpoint of the shower stall.
It is not a single-line straight blast of massive pressure drilling the back of the shower wall. I wish I had that!

The options of installing a brand new water heater or water pressure booster CVS pump/tank will cost me easily over $1500 with labor. Installing 1-inch copper pipe is also expensive , and I'm not sure it can even be done after the basement was finished.

I was naive thinking a simple shower head could solve this.

 

[Reach4]

I know this thread is extremely long ;however, I posted the results last year.

You are right. I lost track of that.

It would be interesting to measure the hot pressure at the lavatory during a shower.

To fix my problem I suppose I want:

1.) Around 8-to-10 GPM coming out of my shower head.
2.) About 100-125 psi

I can't relate to that. Kramer could.

 

[Gregmech26]

You are right. I lost track of that.

It would be interesting to measure the hot pressure at the lavatory during a shower.


I can't relate to that. Kramer could.

]

Visually it looks the same and unaffected at the lavatory during a shower.

 

[Gregmech26]

Plus, I am "Big & Tall" at 6'3" tall, 300lbs with size 16 shoes.

Perhaps we need stronger showers because we have more mass and circumference to cover compared to our regular sized civilians?

 

[Gregmech26]

My shower stall glass door is 59 x 70 to give you an idea of size.

The water stream without the shower head on reaches exactly half way, which coincidentally is where the shower drain is located.

I would think at 72 psi the water stream would "put a hole in the back of the wall" instead of arching halfway to the shower drain.

 

[Valveman]

66 PSI will shoot water 152' straight up in the air. If you are not getting "Kramer" type pressure (lol), then something is restricting the flow. Probably the shower mix valve and/or the house piping.

 

[Gregmech26]

When you're accustomed to 120 psi your entire life, making the downgrade to nearly half that at 66 psi can be an unwelcome adjustment:

http://www.contractortalk.com/f9/home-inspector-says-water-pressure-too-high-138596/

We've never had issues with our copper pipes, water heaters, shower valves, seals, toilets, dishwashers, appliances, etc. I miss the "hammering" and the banging noises the pipes used to make from the high water pressure.

The more I research what's "recommended" as right or wrong, the more I've realized a large part has to do with an individual's personal political viewpoint regarding water and the environment, rather that the comfort of an individual home owner and whether or not anything over 80 psi really causes "damage" that can't be fixed with routine maintenance.

Many dentists now are trying to ban "firm" toothbrushes as they might be too firm and "damage" our teeth. The libertarian in me thinks we should make our own decisions regarding our life, especially in America (land of freedom). I really miss the best showers I've ever had and ever known. Now I'm likely going to have to spend a small fortune to get it back to what I was accustomed to for 40 years.

 

[Valveman]

I still believe your shower valve or pipe is restricting the flow. I have a constant 60 PSI in my shower, and if it were any stronger, it would literally cut through my skin. Also water heaters are only rated for 150 PSI max. But I too believe you should be able to have as much pressure as you want. I can't believe 120 PSI doesn't cause problems with toilet float valves and faucets, but if that is what you want it is up to you.

As for the price, you will need something like a 10GB07 Goulds booster pump and a PK1A kit with a 10 gallon tank and a GHG pressure switch. I can find the 10GB07 for $610.oo, and the high pressure PK1A would cost you $445.00. If you want to boost the incoming 60 PSI to a constant 120 PSI, this is what you need to do.

 

[Gregmech26]

Many thanks valveman.

 

[Gregmech26]

I sent the links to the 10GB07 Goulds booster pump and a PK1A kit with a 20 gallon tank to a plumber (the plumber who provided a free estimate for my water heater) and he refuses to install those items claiming it will "blow out everything" in my house.

The first plumber I called back in December was very enthusiastic and was eager install the items as he claimed he installed them for apartment buildings in the past. Too bad he ended up standing me up twice and never returning my calls at the end of the day.

I guess I need to keep searching for the right plumber who doesn't need to be convinced.

 

[Valveman]

I am sorry it is so hard to find an installer who actually knows what he is talking about, but it is. I am completely disgusted with most of the so called "professionals" in the pump industry. I wish every installer was as knowledgeable as some of the other guys who help on this forum, but they are not. The guys here are the exception. The largest percentage of pump guys are just parts swappers. They don't know what they are doing so they just keep swapping parts until it finally sorta works.

I recommend educating yourself on any subject you are working on. Usually you don't have to understand a lot about pump systems to realize the contractor you are talking too doesn't have a clue. Makes it real easy for them to pull the wool over your eyes if you just let them do whatever they want to do.

The times are changing. It use to be a pump man only learned from his elders. These days I see pump installers being educated more by their customers. Homeowners having researched on line and explained it to the pump man, give the pump man new information. If he sticks his head in the sand and says he already knows everything he needs to know, find another contractor. A good contractor will understand there is always something new to learn. Then after doing a little research of his own, he may become as knowledgeable as the homeowner.

I have gotten to where I research everything I need to work on. It is not just the pump industry, but knowledgeable persons in every industry are hard to find. Most are much less worried about actually doing a good job than they are about making as much money as they can and getting off early.