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Diagnose Bad Water Pressure Due to Clogged Water Pipes

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This article explains how to Diagnose and Cure Bad Water Pressure Due to Clogged Water Supply Pipes - how to diagnose the loss of water pressure and the need for a replacement water pressure tank and water pump.

The process of diagnosis and the costs of the repair are explained. Consumer advice on saving money on well repair costs includes a review of the parts and labor costs of a typical well pump and pressure tank replacement case.

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How to diagnose clogged building water supply piping as a cause of bad water pressure

Clogged steel piping (C) Carson Dunlop Associates

Clogged water supply piping can cause poor water flow in a building. This can occur suddenly from debris clogging a delivery pipe, often at a turn or "elbow" in the piping, but that's not common.

[Click to enlarge any image]

If the building water supply piping is blocked usually this is a long-standing problem.

Examples of causes of poor water pressure due to blocked pipes include

The sketch (above left), courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates shows how galvanized steel water supply piping becomes clogged from rusting or mineral deposits.

Useful diagnostic tricks to determine if building water piping is clogged

In cold climates, the water supply line may have frozen outside or even in the building at an un-heated location.

Reader Question: how do I improve water pressure at a higher building location?

Relationship between water pressure & building height (C) CarsonDunlop Associates used with permission InspectApedia.comEddie said:

I have a wr60 pressure tank near lake being fed by submersible pump. Settings are 40/60 and tank pressure is 38 psi. There is a second pressure tank approx 600 feet away up a hill in the house.

The air pressure in this tank is set at 38 psi. There is never any water entering this tank

The water pressure reading at this tank is 34 psi which I believe is the line loss from the 60 psi reading down at lake. Can the cause of no water in this tank because the air pressure is higher than water pressure . Can I lower air pressure to 32 psi.

Reply:

Eddie you give horizontal distance but not vertical distance between the two tanks - that height is a factor to consider

. But if absolutely no water is entering the upper tank, other explanations include that water pressure is not high enough to lift water the height distance between the tanks or the tank is an internal bladder type and the bladder has stuck to itself.

Our illustration shown here and discussed in our article WATER PRESSURE BOOSTER PUMP shows that if incoming water pressure at ground level were at 60 psi, at a building plumbing fixture that is 30 feet higher the effective pressure would be around 47 psi.

Quoting from that article

For every one foot we push water up, we lose 0.434 psi. Another way of saying this is that it takes one psi to move water up 2.31 feet.


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Continue reading at CLOGGED SUPPLY PIPES, REPAIR or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see CLOGGED SUPPLY PIPES, DIAGNOSTIC FAQs - questions and answers posted originally on this page

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CLOGGED SUPPLY PIPES, DIAGNOSIS at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.


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INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to WATER SUPPLY, PUMPS TANKS WELLS

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