Water Pressure in my House

wannabeplumber

I just re plumbed my house. My house is very small and my water meter is in the basement. I previously had iron pipe that was corroded, almost completely blocked and begining to leak through pin holes at the elbows. My water pressure was almost non existant. I replaced the iorn pipe with 3/4 copper after the meter to the water heater, then 1/2 copper to the 2 sinks in the home, the shower, toilet, washer and laundry tub. My problem is now my water pressure is even less than before. I flushed the lines and made sure that all valves were open. Whats up with this?

thanks

joecaption

You really needed to run 3/4" as a main line all the way to where it branched off to the fixtures.
Have you tryed removing the aerators on the faucets, the screens inside the hoses on the washing machine, removing the shower head to see if there plugged up?

wannabeplumber

Yes when I turned the water on I left the drain open in the water heater to flush it. as I was doing that I removed the aerators and let ever thing flush. I was going to use 3/4 but I have a very small house. We are talking about 25 linear feet from where it reduces from 3/4 to 1/2. Would a pressure regulator help?

joecaption

A regulator can only reduce incoming pressure not increase it.

dogris

Seems to me that you should have much improved water pressure.

Did you inspect or change the inlet and outlet nipples of the water heater? If not, they could be corroded nearly shut.

What type of pipe on other side of the meter? If iron pipe, it too is probably corroded nearly shut.

Daniel Holzman

If you are on city water, it is relatively easy to check the pressure where it enters the house. You can purchase an inexpensive gage and attach it to the first hose bib, that will generally give a reasonable pressure reading. Or you can call the city and ask what pressure is supplied at your tap. Your problem may have nothing to do with pressure, it sounds like you have a low flow problem, which is almost always due to a blockage in the line between the meter and the point where you are not getting flow.

The blockage may be due to a valve jammed shut, debris in the line, clogged aerator at the faucet, or a blockage in the shutoff valve for a fixture. Start by determining pressure at the house, and see if you can get decent flow from a hose bib. Then work your way downstream to find the blockage. Blockage in the hot water heater should not affect the cold water pressure and flow, but would affect the hot water pressure and flow downstream of the heater.

Things are more complex if you have a well and pump, but you did not say what type of system you have.