Many years ago my parents new water softener failed . It was a plastic
Permutit unit made in France, the old unit was a 50's metal one. They
(Permutit's rep. I think) recorded the pressure over time and as a
result the plumber installed a pressure reducing valve, as the pressure
increased at night.

I had a problem when I replaced my old shower with a new Triton unit
with a fancy self-compensating temperature (flow really) control. If I
had a shower after midnight it would go unstable and hammer. Eventually
its pressure switch diaphragm failed.

I put a pressure gauge on the garden tap and discovered the pressure
went up to 100psi at night.

They was a sticker on my water softener which said 8.2bar max.,
(120psi.).
Remembering my parents problems, I checked with the softener people who
said 60psi would be better. They sold me a nice pressure reducing valve,
made by Syr with a gauge on the side.
This solved the shower problem and quietened down the softener when it
regenerated. I was surprised how much the supply pressure varied, rarely
reaching the 60psi set point during the day. (10 year old house on a
green field development).
I think that in most of the developed world pressure reducing valves are
standard fixtures in domestic installations. Water softeners are
obviously made with this in mind.

In message .com,
writes
Hi,

I have or had a water softener fitted about 4 years ago. It was
comissioned at the time and I believe the pressure was below the
maximum limit of 70 psi or else it would not have comissioned by the
istallers (waterside)

While on holiday it leaked a large amount of water onto my kitchen
floor due to a fractured collar seal. The softener engineer measured
the pressure and it's now 100 psi , which is way above the limit for
this device.

has anyone had a device fail (softener, combi boiler, plumbing in
general) where it was due to the mains pressure being increased ? If so
were you able to get any redress from the water authority.
I'm with southeast water.

The implication is that the pressure may be increased without
notification, which I'm guessing could cause devices to fail. Are we
supposed to monitor the water pressure at all times ?

many thanks


--
Neil J. Harris