Municipal or city water pressure troubleshooting:

Causes of poor water pressure or water flow rate. Cures for poor water pressure or flow rate in a building with city water supply.

This article describes how to diagnose and how to correct poor city water pressure or flow, and why to distinguish among intermittent water pressure loss, total water pressure loss, and poor water pressure or flow in a building.

Q&A How to Diagnose & Fix Poor Municipal Water Pressure

These questions & answers about how to diagnose bad municipal or city water pressure were posted originally at MUNICIPAL WATER PRESSURE DIAGNOSIS - please see the suggestions offered there.

On 2018-1127 by (mod) - municipal water pressure falls off, then returns

Carol

That type of cyclic variation in water pressure is very similar to what we see when a booster pump somewhere is cycling on and off.

Are you sure there are no pumps, pressure tanks, and pressure controls on the water delivery system?

In contrast, when water flow rate or "pressure" is being affected by clogged pipes or pipe diameter the characteristic is good pressure only when water is first turned on, then pressure drops and stays down.

The other possibility to ask about is the effect on your water flow rate of other users on the water system turning their fixtures on or off. Depending on where you are in the distribution piping network your water pressure (flow rate) could be affected by other users.

On 2018-11-27 by Carol Dziatlik

We have been having an issue where the water pressure drops to about 1/2 speed after about 4 minutes of flow say in the shower then in 30 seconds ramps back up to full speed.

Does this on every faucet in the house. Had water department out twice, each time they see a 65PSI reading at the meter out in the street. Had a plumber come out today, his gauge showed 100PSI on the outdoor faucet initially.

Turned on faucets in the house and it dropped to normal 65PSI and waited till it dropped to 20PSI returning in 30 seconds. He had be contact the water department again.

They were able to replicate the same readings and confirmed that there was a problem.

She said they would raise the level in the water tower over the next 24 hours to see if that helps. Stating that they are loosing water from an unknown source as well because the tower level is dropping. Doesn't make sense to me.

On 2018-01-27 by (mod) - debris blocked valve cuts municipal water pressure

Thanks Brian for the comment - it will help others diagnose loss of water pressure.

I've previously pointed out the importance of removing and cleaning faucet strainers but I had not considered that a flexible riser between stop valve and sink faucet might itself be completely debris clogged -perhaps more likely when the line makes a loop or sharp bend.

Debris wants to collect in the low point of bends and elbows where it can eventually form a blockage. Just what "debris" is collecting depends on what's in the water: suspended solids, sand, silt, or in the case of hard water, scale formation.

On 2018-01-27 by Brian Heeney

I had no water at the kitchen faucet. I disconnected the flexible pipe between the valve and the faucet.

Water came out of the copper pipe when the pump was on. So the blockage was between there and where the water comes out of the faucet. I removed the flexible pipe and decided to blow through it. It had been replaced about a year ago but it was actually blocked.

It was a sandy, salty deposit. I live in a desert town (Rocky Point, Sonora) and the water comes from a municipal well.

The blockage was at the valve end or easier end of the tube to remove so it would be easy to fix if it happened again.

What type of deposit was causing the blockage? Was It dissolved salts? It forms a coating on a small part of the floor of the shower which is difficult to remove. It is sand coloured.

On 2017-07-15 13:18:30.854154 by (mod) -

If the problem is only at the bathtub and not at other plumbing fixtures in the same bathroom I would be looking for a block or closed control valve or even corrosion and damage in the tub spout or a tub shower diverter that is jammed, stuck, or defective.

On 2017-07-14 23:37:45.596079 by McCrimmon

loss of water pressure in bathtub faucets

On 2017-05-20 20:13:57.376208 by (mod) -

1 a water pressure regular
2. A booster pump with or without a pressure ta nk

On 2017-05-20 16:54:28.285501 by Klaus Conventz

Upon complaint our County Water Department installed a monitor at my street meter, which reflects fluctuations from less than 44 lbs to maximum 50 lbs throughout the day,

resulting at the home in actual pressure of barely 30 lbs torarely 40 lbs due to friction loss and 14 feet head above meter.

The County claims the pressure provided at the meter
is based on gravity and a boost by the utility carrier unavailable. What is available on the market to help myself?

On 2016-12-20 by (mod) - Measuring static water pressure outside

Annie:

Measuring static water pressure outside is fine for finding out what actual pressure is being delivered to the building. Make that test with no water running anywhere

70 PSI is plenty high. IN fact higher would risk leaks or might even be unsafe.
If you've also got good flow rate outside, then we know the problem isn't the water service main to the building. Just measure the time to fill a 5 gallon bucket and you can calculate the actual flow rate.

So the problem is more likely that a regulator indoors is defective OR that there are old clogged water supply pipes in the building.

On 2016-12-20 by Annie

100 year old home. We've had the problem for years of not being able to shower when someone else is running water. It's a small family, so we live with it. However, we now have a problem in which our new washing machine won't function correction. The specs say it requires a minimum of 30psi.

Testing at an outside spigot (there is no way to test where it enters the building), our city water appears to be at 70psi. Turning on one faucet, such as the washing machine, causes it to drop to 35 immediately. Which means it's probably closer to 19 at the washing machine (second floor).

When machine is stopped it immediately goes back up to 70psi. Turning on two (washing machine and shower) causes it to drop to 25. Three (washing machine, shower, and flush the toilet) drops to 15psi.

We have two issues we know of -- old galvanized pipe coming from the city main, and 1/2" copper pipe throughout the large old home. The question is whether the galvanized pipe is the problem.

If water replacement is the issue, why does it jump back up to 70psi immediately when the faucet is closed? Would a booster pump help, or would the pump just burn out or turn off because it can't draw enough water from the main?

There is an old corroded device just before the meter that may be a regulator, I'm not sure. It also might be an old shut-off valve with the handle broken off. It's too corroded to adjust, in any case. And I'm assuming a bad regulator would cause the pressure to go up higher than 70psi, rather than causing low pressure.

We'd like to avoid digging up the yard if possible.

We've lost too many trees in recent years, and this would certainly damage the roots of the ones remaining.

On 2016-02-11 by (mod) - ontrol valve closed or there is an unusual blockage in cold water piping

Cecilia

It sounds as if there is a control valve closed or there is an unusual blockage in your cold water piping. I'd start by following the cold water line from where it branches off to supply the water heater.

On 2016-02-11 1 by ceciliagonz@att.net

I checked the City water pressure valve and it is on. The kitchen sink cold water not work just the hot water is working. Upstairs the tub and toilet have no water coming from them but the two sinks water are working fine. What do you recommend I do?

On 2015-11-13 by louie57@hotmail.ca

The test I want done is to have the water on in my unit and the water on in each of the tenants unit but one at a time to show hot water and pressure loss. I live in a apartment building.

The tenants above and below are turning on their water when I take a shower and the only test the property manager wants to do is all the units above and below me including my unit but all that shows is a even flow

On 2015-11-11 by (mod) -

I'm confused Louie, about what test was done and who "they" are and what that means since what you say "they" concluded does not agree with your complaint.

On 2015-11-11 by louie57@hotmail.ca

I'm losing hot water pressure in my unit of my building from tenants above and below me using the water at the same time.I'm trying to get a test done by running my water in my unit and the other units one at a time but property manager won't do it. They done a all floor water run of units above and below my unit also including my unit but all that shows is an even flow of water but no loss of water.

On 2015-08-22 by (mod) - the reason the municipality does not want you to use a pressure booster pump

Mrs. Shaih,

I suspect the reason the municipality does not want you to use a pressure booster pump is that in the application you describe you are using a pump to increase the water flow out of the municipal system up to your storage tank.

The municipality is worried that your pump will draw more water out of the system than they want you to have at a given period.

You would have to argue that as the municipal system is already designed to fill your storage tank is above the municipal system the municipal system pressure is not enough to deliver water to your tank and so a lift pump is needed.

You could perhaps offer that the pump would only e allowed to run at specific times.

That might actually be a benefit to the municipality if, for example, your lift pump would only run to re-fill your tank at times when the overall municipal water demand was at its lowest - say in the middle of the night.

Your own water service would always be out of your own water tank and would thus not change what your building occupants could obtain.

On 2015-08-22 by Mrs. Kamrunissa Shaikh

My housing society is in Kurla, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Since our underground storage tank is on a height, the water pressure of Municipality becomes weak and water is not lifted to fill the storage tank.

We members would like to put water pressure booster so that it can pull the water from the pipe to the height. But we have been told this is illegal and we will be prosecuted by the Municipality. Is it So/ We are paying water charges as per the meter reading by the Municipality. what is the solution?

Can we not use the booster to increase the pressure for filling water in the storage tank which supplies water to the whole building. Pls. inform.

...

Continue reading at MUNICIPAL WATER PRESSURE DIAGNOSIS - topic home, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Municipal Water Pressure Articles

• CLOGGED SUPPLY PIPES, HOT WATER
• MUNICIPAL WATER PRESSURE DIAGNOSIS - home
• MUNICIPAL WATER PRESSURE IMPROVEMENTS
• WATER PRESSURE REDUCER / REGULATOR
• WATER PRESSURE BOOSTER PUMP
• WATER PRESSURE IMPROVEMENT
• WATER PRESSURE REDUCER / REGULATOR

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