Ignoramus22745 wrote:
I am trying to wrap up a few issues with the house.

We have a relatively nice house (ie not terribly cheaply built, 25 yrs
old), but we have a strange problem that has become bad lately. It is
either low water pressure or low water flow. Some facts

- If I am taking a shower and someone turns on some water faucet, even
not too much, the flow drops dramatically

- It applies to both hot and cold water

- Flow of water in the basement bathroom sink used to be pretty good,
not it is not

- We have a defunct "water softener" system that is still in line but
not operating for several years.

- it just feels that there "is not as much" water than before

- I checked the main valves near the water meter, they are quite wide
open (I was hoping that perhaps the problem is that they are just
"cracked open", but not such luck).

I have some nice stuff such as a "Magnehelic water pressure gauge"
that goes up to 30 psi. Would it be suitable to use? I could mount it
permanently somewhere in the furnace room.

I am thinking, if I record pressure, low pressure when all faucets are
closed means a city water problem. If not, low pressure when one
faucet is open means a house problem. Is that right?

What is the rational approach to solving this problem?

i

Hi,
If softener hasn't been used, maybe it caused scale build up in your
plumbing? Being not used, I'd bypass it anyhow. And in my city every
new house comes with pressure gauge, regulator and remotely read
meter(via satellite radio). The pressure is set at 60 psi.

Ignoramus22745 wrote:

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 15:51:46 GMT, Tony Hwang wrote:
If softener hasn't been used, maybe it caused scale build up in your
plumbing?

Could be, I guess. We never used it, previous owners installed prior
to our neighborhood's switch to better water. They ceased using it way
before we bought the house from them.

Being not used, I'd bypass it anyhow. And in my city every
new house comes with pressure gauge, regulator and remotely read
meter(via satellite radio). The pressure is set at 60 psi.

Very nice. I doubt that my water pressure is anywhere close to 60
psi. What are these regulators like? I would love to have one.

Also, just for my curiosity, are pressure booster pumps worth
anything?

i

A regulator won't fix low pressure, only high pressure. If you have city
water and the pressure is low it's the city's responsibility to fix it.
You certainly should not need to spend money on a booster pump of any
kind.

Pete C.