Home Pressure Boosting Advice

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Eric Theiss

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Hi,

I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction here. I'm dealing with low city water pressure (not well water). This is for one house, currently with 2 people. I have not measured the exact pressure, but anecdotally: Pressure from one shower is acceptable, but if anything else runs simultaneously both pressures are more or less a trickle. More more or less, incoming pressure is acceptable, but once cut in half using two sources, it is not ideal.

I've looked into a bunch of solutions and haven't really come to something I can wrap my head around. The SCALA2 seems like a good all in one solution at an attractive price-point, but the reviews are not promising.

I've read that a cycle stop valve, a small tank and a pump is a more long term reliable solution.

The question is: is there a way to do a CSV, pump and tank for under $700-$1000 without compromising on longevity and performance.
 

Eric Theiss

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I received a pressure gauge today. Interestingly, but actually not surprisingly, the initial pressure is great @80 psi. When I run a shower it drops to the high 50's. When I run a hose it drops to the mid-teens!

Is a pump the right answer to solve this?

Should I be posting this in the plumbing forum?
 

Eric Theiss

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Two locations both hose spigots. One spigot (front spigot) branch off main feed. It is the first fixture off the branch. Mainline is 3/4 copper in the house . Spigpt is 1/2 copper. Ran the back spigot and pressure dropped from 80 to about 20. Back spigot is off a manifold where all of my fixture home runs extend from (excluding the aforementioned spigot). Line to Manifold is 3/4 copper. Manifold branches are all 1/2 pex

Did the same test in reverse. Back spigot pressure was around 80, ran front spigot through a garden wand, and pressure dropped to the teens. I thought the garden wand would minimize the pressure drop, but it did not .

Front spigot gauge with shower running was a drop of 80 to 55ish.
 

Valveman

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Since the inlet pressure is dropping to the 20's and teens, I am not sure you have enough water available to pump. When a pump starts sucking on that line to give you more flow and pressure, the inlet will probably drop to the negatives, and you don't want to collapse the incoming lines.

You may have to use a cistern storage tank. This way the city water can feed the storage tank with a float valve like a toilet as needed. Then the booster pump and PK1A I linked to earlier would be able to supply as much flow and pressure as needed, because it will be able to get the water it needs from the cistern.
LOW YIELD WELL_ CENTRIFUGAL_PK1A.jpg
 

Eric Theiss

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Thanks for the information valveman. I'm going to start with the city. Hopefully they can improve the flow issue.
 

Valveman

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The city is already giving you 80 PSI. I think the line and/or meter size is the problem. With a large enough main and meter the pressure will stay much closer to 80 when using water.
 

Reach4

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Is there a partially closed valve near the meter? Crushed pipe?
 

LLigetfa

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Mainline is 3/4 copper in the house .
How long is the run from the curb? A 3/4" line should be able to feed a garden hose with a nozzle on the end of it with very little drop in pressure. Did you do a bucket test to see how many GPM of flow you have?
 

Eric Theiss

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I called the city. We have a 1" galvanized line coming from the street. The city keeps track of the material of the lines. This line is likely original to the house as it comes up through the floor of the basement rather than through a basement wall. The house is from 1924. The city wasnt of much help but gave me a list of plumbers to call to replace it.

It is likely corrosion, but it could be a crushed pipe.

I have checked the valves before or after the meter and both are wide open. There is a chance that the curb stop is partially closed. I'm not basing that off anything, but it is a variable I have not checked.

I am thinking the end result will be forking over the cash to replace the line to the house. Although I probably will check the curb stop valve before doing so.
 

Boycedrilling

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So, you’ve got a 94 year old 1” galvanized pipe from the water main to the house. I bet the inside is corroded down to the size of a straw. You just can’t get any flow thru it.

Is your meter at the curb? In some areas the municipality or water purveyor owns the line up to the meter and it’s your line from the meter in. In some places, it’s your line from the main in the street in.

Figure a half day to full day for an excavating contractor from a meter at the curb.
 
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