Whole house pressure problems

cschloerke

We have a 6 year old home in GA and have very low water pressure through out the home. Some times it is better than others, but it is never good. We have city water (not a well). A few questions:

-What can i do myself to try to fix/diagnose prior to calling a plumber?
-What are all of the potential causes for low water pressure?

Thanks for your help!!

majakdragon

Call your water company. Most will come out and test the pressure at the main and at the house. This will let you know about where the problem starts. This service is usually free. If you haven't been there too long, it could be just the curb stop valve is not fully open.

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astottl

have city check outsied pressure. if you have any type of water filter/water softer/put them on by pass.

SxS

Check with your neighbors also.
Many platted developments are not pipe sized correctly for future development or even the draw that they have specified to the city itself. On the flip side, some cities know full well that they have not properly engineered their systems and/or have stretched them far beyond their capabilities...which often takes a fullscale community revolt to spend the millions needed for an upgrade.

hughmacdiarmid

best place to check the pressure in your house is at the outside tap. This tap shouldn't be filtered. you can either turn it on and look or get a pressure tester that will screw on to the tap.

Next you can take off the aerator on your kitchen faucet, look at the filter on it and see if there is anything stuck in there, now turn on the tap and see how the pressure is.

Some houses are equiped with a pressure reduceing valve, when these get old they sometimes restrict the pressure and need to be adjusted.

beer_geek

Remove an aerator and turn on the water. Is the pressure different? If so, there's your problem. If not, see the rest.

Has the pressure always been low or is this new? Do you have a filter? If so, have you changed it recently? Sometimes, you can get junk in the filter housing.

Can you look at your meter? If the water is "off" in the house, is the meter stopped? If so, you know your pipes aren't broken.

Have the water company come out.

I had a similar problem. There was junk in the pressure reducing valve. I needed the water company to tell me the pressure was fine going into the meter.

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cschloerke

Thanks everyone for your responses. I did have the city come out and they said that the pressure to the home is great. They said it might be the regulator. I dialed the pressure up and down on the regulator and no change. I am thinking i need to clean the regulator. I dont know how. Any thoughts?