• Hello there guest and Welcome to The #1 Classic Mustang forum!
    To gain full access you must Register. Registration is free and it takes only a few moments to complete.
    Already a member? Login here then!

Freakin crap. House water pressure is suck.

L

Lemondrop

Member
Couple weeks ago I changed the main water line going into the house. I thought as per what my old plummer said that it would fix the pressure issue. It did not and yesterday a house that is next door became occupied for the first time in 2 years. Now the water pressure can be bested by urination. The shower literally has water coming from the head and falling straight down. I went out front to spray the lawn with a fertilizer from a hose-rig and can't get enough flow to spray from the hose. I thought perhaps the check valve at the meter might be the trouble so to test I removed the meter and turned the water on. I was rewarded with enough water flowing from the valve to fill a 5 gallon bucket in maybe ten minutes.

Guess I get crappy pressure till monday when the city can be reached, unless someone has a better idea.
 
Sometimes there is a leak up stream from you and the city emergency line should be called.

I got an emergency call out yesterday to locate a gas line so they can fix a water pressure issue. they consider it an emergency when you either do not have adequate services or not service of one or more utility.

You should call it in since thousands of gallons of water could be leaking into something, some where cause damage!

Mel
 
Our pressure dropped a while back. Ended up being a cracked water main in the street. I didn't notice the water seeping out of a crack since it had been raining for a few days. It was on its way to making a sinkhole in front of my driveway.
 
Curious, when you first turn on the shower or faucet, is there like a normal burst of pressure or is it constant and low?
 
Last year the city sent us a notice that due to the drought, the water pressure would be done a little. Ours seemed to be getting lower and lower. We finally bought a water pressure gauge that screwed to an outside faucet. It showed 30 PSI. My wife found a water pressure map for out city and it showed we should be at 70 PSI. We called the city and they found a leak between the main line and the meter. They fixed it and now we have 73PSI.
 
"67 evil eleanor" said:
Curious, when you first turn on the shower or faucet, is there like a normal burst of pressure or is it constant and low?
Click to expand...
+1 Its a major misconception that pressure is always to blame. More times than not its a volume issue, and the pressure is there.
 
"lethal289" said:
+1 Its a major misconception that pressure is always to blame. More times than not its a volume issue, and the pressure is there.
Click to expand...

I get high pressure till my accumulator on the HW tanks bleeds the pressure off.

City called back, first thing Monday they are sending someone out. Nobody in our culdesac has any water pressure, just like us.

I flowed water into a marked bucket, it took one minute and twenty seconds to fill two gallons of water. So a gallon every 40 seconds is my flow rate.

Final edit:
I turned the valve off to the HW tank (installed it when I put the new water heater in) and shut off the power to the water heater. When you turn the hose on the stream now is nothing and falls slightly off after a few seconds.

Like I said earlier, I removed the meter from the lines and turned the main water valve on the street side back on and the water just trickles out.
 
OK, I see the magic word, nobody. There is a problem with the city mains.
 
Nope, You'll have a bunch of guys in white trucks with yellow lights on top standing around trying to decide what and if they should do something.

Oh, there will be one guy standing there supervising with his hands in his pockets and a couple guys that will actually locate the gas, power, phone, catv in order for the other idiots to decide if they should do their job or not....

Hehehehe, you all know this is in good humor, right?

Mel
 
That first burst you get means the pressure is there.

I hope it gets worked out for you, but it sounds like there is an open line somewhere, or the line is being under supplied by the water company. In both cases, thats a volume issue, and usually easier to fix then a pressure issue. We run into it from time to time here (PA). In most cases, if not from breakage, its because the main lines are 40, 50, or even 60 years old, and were not engineered to supply as many people as they currently do. There are new property developments sprouting up putting more demand on already overtaxed lines.

I've even seen new installed (plastic) water mains be crushed to the point of cutting flow down dramatically. That can be a real hard one to pinpoint and repair.

Hopefully the water company doesn't take the attitude that your still getting some water, and wait until its a greater issue. About a mile from my house, there is a street of 5 or 6 homes, that the water authority installed 1000 gallon water barrels and pumps in the front yard (just sitting in the open) to supply the homes with water. Supposedly its a temporary fix, until they can install a new main to feed the area. It's been about 6 months so far.

My home, and most around me were without water for a few days two summers ago after a severe storm. It It gives you a hole new appreciation for how hard it was/is for people to live without water.
 
City came out today and checked it. The guy says "If we have 15 GPM, there is nothing we can do to fix anything" so my wife chuckled and the guy said "from the sounds, I don't expect to get that". He went and tested and came back to knock on the door. He told her "Well, you guys set a new record for me. I've been doing this for 18 years and the lowest flow I have seen to date was 2.8 gallons a minute........you guys are at 1.7 gallons a minute. I had the pressure gauge on there and it got to 50PSI but it took a long time to get there." My wife laughed and said "my husband was expecting 1.25 gallons a minute" and the guy said "he was real close in his guess".

Said it would take a week to get it fixed because they have to review the location of the pipe(s) and any other power/gas/whatever that is under the pavement before they can start digging.
 
At least they were able to corroborate you instead of blaming you! Hopefully, they'll get it fixed quickly.
 
I don't know how it is in your city but in Galesburg Illinois (pop 33,000) if there is a problem and the main runs down the middle of the street it is your bill for anything from the street into your house, I could not believe it till I asked several different city officials, they will let you do the repairs with a private licensed contractor if he follows code, it is sometimes devistating for elderly on social security only. I always figured it was sidewalk in for homeowner problems and bill, anything from sidewalk out you would think is city responsibility . I am kind of glad I have a well ---I am running on borrowed time--my pump is nearing 20 years old, one pump control, one pressure switch and one pressure switch replaced. I did those repairs myself, I put my own pump in and ran the pipe myself also when it was new.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top