sudden fluctuating water pressure

[gabba]

Hi, We have lived in our house (Florida, built in 2004, city water, water softener system, septic tank) for 1 year 8 months. Up until about a month ago, we could use showers at the same time (2 bathrooms) and not loose any water pressure. We never worried about flushing toilets or using sinks when someone was showering. I don't even think we had trouble running the washing machine when someone was taking a shower. However, about a month ago we started noticing very reduced water pressure when using more than 1 water source. It's to the point that i don't even want to wash my hands when someone is in the shower. If it had always been like that, I might have just thought "my word! this house has low water pressure", but this is a sudden onset problem. I know very little about plumbing. Any help is appreciated. Thank you

 

[Valveman]

Probably have a waterlogged pressure tank. Cycling on and off causes the tank and everything else in a pump system to fail.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Cwhyu2]

You may have a faulty pressure reducing valve on your main incoming water service, it`s located after the water meter.
Do you have a filter system on your water main?
Have you tried to bypass the water softener?
These are some things that could cause your problem.

 

[Reach4]

.However, about a month ago we started noticing very reduced water pressure when using more than 1 water source.

Do you have a cartridge water filter? That would be the easy one-- clogged filter element.


You can get a garden-hose thread pressure gauge. See what the pressure at an outside spigot does when you turn on a big water user inside. See what the inside pressure does under similar water use. You can use a laundry tap or water heater drain to connect the pressure gauge for inside pressure. The outside hose spigot is usually fed with water from before the filter and softener.

You can put the softener into bypass for testing. Check to see if the incoming water valve is partially closed.

 

[gabba]

Thank you all so much for the prompt input! I will look into these things as soon as I can this week/weekend.