Low Water Pressue

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Stevetothink

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Low Water Pressure

I am experiencing some water pressure issues in my 2 family home. Here's the history.

Water pressure was fine for 4 years. Last month, my neighbor had a gas leak. PSE&G had to dig-up part of the street & part of our driveway to fix the issue. As soon as they starting digging, I noticed an issue with my water pressure. This is what I am now experiencing.

1. When I flush the toilet, the shower and/or sink pressure is drastically reduced until the toilet tank refills.

2. If I shower and the guy in the other unit (2 family house) flushes his toilet then my shower pressure goes way down by about 50%.

3. The washing machine briefly spits out cloudy/dirty water if I haven't used it in a few days.

Just so you know, the house has separate hot water heaters for each unit but 1 main water line and meter. I have city water so I called the township to test the pressure. They said everything looks fine coming in to the main supply line.

Do you have any suggestions for what might be causing my problem and how I can possibly fix it without calling a plumber?

Thanks in advance!

Steven
 
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Cass

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If they cut into a water line and repaired it there may have been some debris that went through the line and if you have a PRV it may have gotten caught in it and be lowering the flow...I have seen this happen a few times and that is what it sounds like...
 

Stevetothink

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Low Water Pressure

When you say PRV, you mean Pressure Release Value...right? This is all new to me so I'm figuring things out one step at a time.

1. How do I know if I have a PRV?
2. Once I've located my PRV, can I simply remove it and flush it out in a bucket of water (after turning off the main water supply, of course)?

Thanks for the help. I've been reading through this forum and have learned a lot.

Steven
 

Gary Swart

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A PRV (pressure regulator valve) is normally located in the main supply line very close to where it makes entry into the house. It is sort of bell shaped and has an adjusting bolt on top. I'll leave it to the pro for the best way to clean it, but it will not be as simple as your question. If you have a PRV (and you may not) you should also have a thermal expansion tank located between the PRV and the water heater. This is a domed tank teed into the water line. It will be a cylinder about 12" across and 18" high (give or take on the size) This is not part of you problem, but is something you should be aware of. There have been may threads on this subject that you can research.
 

Stevetothink

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I hate to bring up old topics but I'm still experiencing this issue. I had the town come out for a 2nd time and they tell me everything looks fine.

I don't have a PRV or a thermal expansion tank.

I recently replaced the water filter coming from the main line. One hour after I replaced the entire unit, the new filter is already tanish...dirty. I didn't expect it to show dirt so fast. They old filter I took out was gross after just 3 months or so.

I also noticed that my quarterly water bill is about 1/2 of what it used to be.

Should I bring a plumber out to check things out or call the town again and insist that they check where they dug a hole in my street/driveway?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Steve
 
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Furd

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From what you describe you have a flow problem, not a pressure problem. The first thing for you to do is to purchase your own pressure gauge so that you can do the pressure testing. These are available at all the "big box mega stores" and cost about ten dollars. You screw the gauge to a hose faucet or the drain valve on the water heater and slightly open the valve. This gives you the "static" (no water being used) pressure and it should be somewhere between 40 and 70 psi on the gauge.

Next, while leaving the pressure gauge installed you open a faucet somewhere else in the house and then observe the pressure gauge. A little drop in pressure is normal but if you have a significant drop in pressure you have a flow problem. Try this test also without the filter cartridge in place.

What could have happened is that when digging the hole the contractor (or utility) might have partially crushed your service pipe. If that is the problem then nothing short of digging it up and replacing the pipe will solve the problem. If your tests show that you do have a flow problem (without the filter cartridge in place) then ask your water utility to do a flow test in addition to a pressure test.
 
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Ditto what Furd said.

I'll add the following: you need to read the pressure with various flows as well to see how much restriction you are getting. You can bucket test (or use the water meter) a shower head (typically 2.5 gpm) or faucet head with a 2.0 gpm aerator. Data should be in sets, e.g.:
psi---gpm
60---0
55---2.5

If you see very high pressure drop with a single small flow then there is something wrong with the supply to your home.

The damage was apparently caused by a utility provider (if this proves to be a crushed line) so they are on the hook for repair.

The dirty water in the toilet is indicative of a leak in the underground supply to the home. I've not seen dirt in my water but I once had a tiny leak on the city side of a meter. Even though the water is pushing out, a small quantity of soil will be pulled back into the water (tiny eddies?) About 15 years ago I checked for a leak when I noticed a soil taste in my water and could smell it in the shower. The water looked clean in a glass, but I found mud when I checked the meter box and soon located a pinhole mist when I uncovered the threads.
 

Stevetothink

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FLow Problem?

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

I bought a pressure gauge and did a flow test.

The reading was 76 with the hose barely open. When I flushed the toilet it dropped to 32 and then when I ran the sink (while the toilet was still filling up), it dropped to 22.

From what you said in your prior post, it sounds like a flow problem. I'll be on the phone to the town on Monday morning.

Thanks again!

Steve
 

Jadnashua

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When they did the repairs in the street, they might have kinked your supply line...
 

Cass

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If you have a PRV (Pressure Reducing Valve) it is bad and needs replacing...if you have a PRV you also need to install an Expansion Tank unless you have one now....
 
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Steve,

Yes, those pressures are waaaaaaay low. Assuming that this isn't some sort of PRV issue, it must be damage to the supply line. The newer Watts PRV's have a removable basket screen or something like that. It is possible that it is clogged...if you have a PRV (pressure regulating valve.)
 

Stevetothink

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I checked again and do not see a PRV and/or an expansion tank. I've attached a photo of the supply line coming into my house so you can see what it looks like.

The supply line has a gauge. When no one is using water, the gauge reads 9...almost 10. My wife just took a shower and I noticed that the gauge goes down really really low and slowly comes back up to 7 or 8 as about 10 minutes passes with the shower running.

My town guys came out twice a few months ago and checked the pressure coming into the house and they said it was fine. I'm really confused as to why they would say the pressure coming in is fine if there is a pinched line.

Thanks,
Steve
 

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hj

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pressure

"Digging a hole in the street" would have absolutely nothing to do with your pressure, UNLESS, they cut your line, in which case you would not have had ANY water until the fixed it, OR they did something to damage the pipe to make it smaller.
 
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Most likely they damaged the supply, kinking/crushing it. Might not even have been direct, but a shift in the earth nearby while digging that did it. A little dirt in the line as a result of the damage wouldn't surprise me. When I had a tiny leak from the city supply I could smell and taste the soil in the line--couldn't see it though. That's what prompted my check of the meter box and discovery of the leak.

Another indication of damage/leaking to look for is actual water run off somewhere in the yard/street or more lush grass in a section.

The folks just "checking the pressure" sound clueless when it comes to troubleshooting. They need to be checking the pressure with various levels of demand to the home. Make them demonstrate that the system will hold within say 10 pounds of city supply pressure, with at least 2.5 gpm flowing just after the meter. If it won't, they've got damage of some sort on their end. You shouldn't be getting 44 psi drop from flushing a toilet.
 
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