Water Pressure

Bad flow is not always a pressure problem. When a house is built, all sorts of little pieces of stuff (it mostly looks like solder) is in the pipes. Over time it works its way to the faucets. The faucet has a screen where the water comes out and this can get clogged by these bits. If you can unscrew the piece the water flows out of, check and see if the screen is (mostly) clogged. If so, cleaning should help.

On our kitchen sink part of the faucet pulls out to use as a rinser. We had bad flow in the kitchen sink and the pull out part (sort of like a shower head) had to be replaced to solve the problem.

Pressure mostly affects how fast a toilet refills. How well it flushes is determined by the amount of water in the tank and the design of the toilet. Other than replacing the toilet with a new one, about the only thing you can try is to look in the tank and make sure it is filling to the "water line" (usually marked on the inside of the tank) and that no one put something in there to "save water". (It used to be common to recommend putting a brick in the tank to reduce the amount of water per flush. This didn't work well.) New water saving toilets are much better than older water saving ones.

Good luck.

 

We had ours checked last spring when we had a professional plummer out for service. He wanted to know why VanMetre had installed a water pressure reducing valve when we only receive 20 PSI coming into the house, and only 40 at the street. The County told us our levels were at County requirements.

Can we start a petition?

 

Can you explain this again.....what is the diffuser...sorry to be ignorant

 

Our water pressure issues affect all running water: outside, fridge water dispenser, commodes . . .

 

ALL of our running water was affected too. Until we installed the booster pump. We can hear it turn on and then the water begins to flow at a higher rate. Short of a significant effort with the county, VM, etc., this was the best solution for us.

 

It's a shame most of us will have to pay the expense for a booster, when clearly this is a builder/County error. I assume this is our only solution.

 

I checked our pressure in the house with nothing else running (dishwasher, toilets, showers, sinks, washing machine, etc). The very best pressure that I could get was about 43 PSI, taken in the lowest level of my house (basement). With other sources on throughout the house, it dropped to 38 PSI. Upstairs it was a bit lower. I am in Highview Trail Pl. with one of the higher elevations.

I used a inexpensive Watts $10 pressure gauge, but it seems to be accurate. I tested it against my friends expensive version. Also, I adjusted the pressure regulator on the house to try to increase pressure. However, I don't recomment messing with the regulator too much.

See picture below.

 

Had a guy come out this evening (yes, at 10:00 and no surcharge for the late arrival) and he meticulously checked each of the pipes going in/out of the hot water heater and found the culprit. The check valve was stuck 'up' and he told me how it was stuck, but I forget the exact word. He played with and then it went back down. Night and day difference in the hot water pressure!!!!! My total charge was $40. Thanks again, Eric, for suggesting to check out the hot water heater!!!!!

 

We have the same problem from past 1 week. The pressure on the cold water is alright, however, the hot water runs very slow. Do you think I can fix it by myself or does it need a professional? Can you elaborate on - "He played with and then it went back down"?

Thanks

 

There is a "stop valve" in a pipe on the top of the hot water heater. He turned off the water, unscrewed a pipe on top of the heater, flushed the remaining water out into a bucket, ended up removing the valve from that pipe, and put everything back together. You definitely could do it yourself...he showed me what he was doing and explained everything along the way. If it happened again I would call him back out rather than do it myself though because I'm sure there are little things I would forget (like something having to do with the gas light under the water heater). I can also provide the number for the guy I used too. It's a handyman father/son team. The son is much cheaper than the father, but still very good at what he does.

 

Thanks so much for your reply.

Yes - can you please send me the guy's contact details?