Low water pressure in home troubleshooting

[jamil]

Doc, buy and demo more of your neighbor’s houses. Increase your yard size AND eliminate competition for presure from the main. Win/win.

Knock down enough of them and you can put in your own private golf course and shooting range.

 

[hoosierdoc]

So I ensured everything was off and had a rate of 0.25gpm. I turned off our water supply and it dropped to 0-0.08gpm depending on which time flashed. The hundredths ticked up about every third time it displayed.

i used food coloring in all toilets and none had noticeable leak at 30 mins. No faucet is dripping. Sump pit not filling. Argh.

 

[Cameramonkey]

That possible leak isnt part of the original problem IMHO. eight hundredth of a gallon/min is a little more than a teaspoon per minute. That slow drip is not enough to matter in regards to pressure, but it will add up over time. If my math is correct, thats about 410 gallons a year lost.

 

[hoosierdoc]

That's what I was thinking. Not sure if it would get worse with more flow through the line? I'd think pressure would make the leak leak and pressure shouldn't rise in the supply line when we use water

 

[Cameramonkey]

That's what I was thinking. Not sure if it would get worse with more flow through the line? I'd think pressure would make the leak leak and pressure shouldn't rise in the supply line when we use water

I assume the leak would reduce as you used water because the static pressure is reduced because the water has someplace else to go when the water is running. But that is purely academic. (flow switches from .1 to .08/min)

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Have you checked all of your appliances that have overflows, auto-drains, backwashes, pressure reliefs, etc? For example, if your water heater(s) pipe their p&t reliefs straight to your sewer but are bypassing, it might not be obvious. Now, they typically have air gaps so they don't back flow but you might be able to hear water running through them.

At a quart per hour, I'd think you'd be able to hear a hissing sound of the water.

Have you walked your water line from the meter into the house? One time I had mine blow loose at a fitting, just outside the house. Of course it was easy to find as it made its way to the surface.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I just had another thought. You may not have a leak.

If your house main is faulty and doesn’t completely shut off, that could account for the slight leak. you only THINK it is off.

I remembered that because the shutoff for my toilet doesn’t really. It still dripped when I changed my fill valve tonight.

I would shut it off again and turn on the highest/furthest cold faucet. If it drips the main valve is leaking. If it’s not the highest point, water from higher pipes may siphon out that faucet making you think it’s leaking.

 

[tmschuller]

I thought I read you pushed the bypass and did it have much of an effect... how old is the softner? Maybe a resin bed that impacted? I've had large softners that this happen and dramatically lowered the water pressure.. just trying to help. Good luck doc!

 

[1911ly]

I just had another thought. You may not have a leak.

If your house main is faulty and doesn’t completely shut off, that could account for the slight leak. you only THINK it is off.

I remembered that because the shutoff for my toilet doesn’t really. It still dripped when I changed my fill valve tonight.

I would shut it off again and turn on the highest/furthest cold faucet. If it drips the main valve is leaking. If it’s not the highest point, water from higher pipes may siphon out that faucet making you think it’s leaking.

I have had this issue. I have 3 water shutoffs. One in the well pit, one in the house and one at the street. The one that is the in the pit doesn't shut off all the way. I called the water company about it when I had to repack the hand valve in the house and the water would not shut off all the way. They sent a guy out to look at it and he said "that's in your pit, it's your valve". I said they (your company) installed it when we switched to city water because it was required. I was told to call a plumber. I opened all the faucets and got the pressure down to almost nill and replace the valve nut packing in the house valve. The valve in the pit dripped water around the packing nut too. But it was before the meter. So I said screw it. It's a dirt floor in the pit.

A about 10 years later I got a letter saying they were changing the meters to wireless. When they came out the guys said your shutoff in the pit is leaking, we gotta change that. I said I've know that for about 10 years. He's like WTF! why didn't you call. I said I did and...... well, they finally fixed the issue.


Good call on the valve Cameramonky. It is a possibility.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Another thought. As we start to get frost/freezes overnight, look for areas that dont quite frost. Higher moisture content will cause that part of the lawn to frost/freeze later than the rest. Especially since we havent had rain for a while.

If there is a big area that isnt frosting over your pipe path, that would be where the leak is. Its possible its enough water to add thermal mass to the soil, but not enough to make the grass greener, soil softer, etc.

But my money is still on a faulty shutoff for this part.

 

[Dirtebiker]

You didn’t mention if you had a PRV (pressure reducing valve) installed. It’s common in some newer homes. These can be adjusted, but if it’s bad needs to be replaced. This can cause low pressure. Normal home water pressure should be between 60 to 70 psi. Anything higher has the potential of damaging valves. Here is a link explaining about PRV’s Water Pressure Reducing Valves - Water Conservation - Learn About - Watts

I’ve never heard of these. Where would they be?