I was told recently I should have a water pressure regulator installed
as my pressure is too high.

We live in a two story house and some of the faucets on the second
story seem to have low pressure (or low flow rate.)

My questions are.

Will the faucets and shower-heads that have low pressure on the second
story get even worse after a pressure regulator is installed?

If the low pressure or flow rate on those faucets is due to the fact
that they are old and corroded I can see how the issues we're having
with those may not be affected by a pressure regulator.

Thanks.

"engwar" wrote in message
...
I was told recently I should have a water pressure regulator installed
as my pressure is too high.

We live in a two story house and some of the faucets on the second
story seem to have low pressure (or low flow rate.)

My questions are.

Will the faucets and shower-heads that have low pressure on the second
story get even worse after a pressure regulator is installed?

If the low pressure or flow rate on those faucets is due to the fact
that they are old and corroded I can see how the issues we're having
with those may not be affected by a pressure regulator.

Thanks.


How high IS the water pressure? You can buy a tester at Home Depot. If you
mess with cars and have a compression tester, you can stuff the rubber end
in the faucet and check it. Or, how's the flow at the downstairs faucets?
It's easy to test the upstairs faucets, just turn off the angle valve and
disconnect the pipe and check the flow right at the valve. If it's an old
house the angle valves could be stuck or you may cause a leak. Old pluming
is always something better off left untouched

If you lower the pressure, the water flow is going to slow down. That's a
given. Some of the new "low flow" faucets are really slow. The school I work
at has some that flow about a quart a minute. Cuss them every time I fill
the coffee maker.

Al

On Oct 23, 3:20*pm, engwar wrote:
I was told recently I should have a water pressure regulator installed
as my pressure is too high.
In the city nearby, the normal pressure is 60 to 110 psi, depending on the location. Here on the acreage, my pump starts up at 20 psi and shuts off at 40 psi. What would be "too high?" You could read the boxes on some of the plumbing fixtures in a store; they probably would say what pressure range the fixture is designed for. If the pressure is more than what the fixtures are designed for, I suppose you could get more leaky taps and trickling toilets. If you do get a pressure reducing valve, the screw on the top adjusts this way: "In will Increase the pressure".

We live in a two story house and some of the faucets on the second
story seem to have low pressure (or low flow rate.)
We also live in a two storey house. To calculate the pressure difference, I take the total vertical rise from my pump in the basement to a faucet on the second storey (19 ft), and multiply that by 0.4329 psi/ft to get 8.23 psi pressure difference. If my pump is nearly ready to start up, the pressure in the basement is 20 psi, and the pressure on the second storey is 8 psi less, which is 20 - 8 = 12 psi. One of the faucets on the second storey does seem pretty slow to me, but its one that we don't use much. We're generally pretty content with our water system.

Will the faucets and shower-heads that have low pressure on the second
story get even worse after a pressure regulator is installed?
Yes. Some fixtures are "low flow" to save water, but in this case, you might prefer fixtures that are non-low-flow. Another idea would be to have the pressure reducing valve on a line serving only the basement and main floor, and have the second floor served by a line that tees off *before* the prv.

If the low pressure or flow rate on those faucets is due to the fact
that they are old and corroded I can see how the issues we're having
with those may not be affected by a pressure regulator.
Some cities have galvanized water lines, and these are notorious for a build-up of scale. These need to be replaced by copper lines or cpvc water lines, which will stay free of deposits indefinitely. PVC water lines are for cold water only, but CPVC water lines are good for both hot and cold lines. Put a couple of cups of vinegar in a plastic bag and tape it up to a shower head so that the mineral build-up is submerged in the vinegar. Leave it overnight, and the next day, the shower might operate much better. Happy plumbing!

Big Al wrote:
"engwar" wrote in message
...
I was told recently I should have a water pressure regulator installed
as my pressure is too high.

We live in a two story house and some of the faucets on the second
story seem to have low pressure (or low flow rate.)

My questions are.

Will the faucets and shower-heads that have low pressure on the second
story get even worse after a pressure regulator is installed?

If the low pressure or flow rate on those faucets is due to the fact
that they are old and corroded I can see how the issues we're having
with those may not be affected by a pressure regulator.

Thanks.


How high IS the water pressure? You can buy a tester at Home Depot. If you
mess with cars and have a compression tester, you can stuff the rubber end
in the faucet and check it. Or, how's the flow at the downstairs faucets?
It's easy to test the upstairs faucets, just turn off the angle valve and
disconnect the pipe and check the flow right at the valve. If it's an old
house the angle valves could be stuck or you may cause a leak. Old pluming
is always something better off left untouched

If you lower the pressure, the water flow is going to slow down. That's a
given. Some of the new "low flow" faucets are really slow. The school I work
at has some that flow about a quart a minute. Cuss them every time I fill
the coffee maker.

Al


I have a bad habit of removing flow restrictors.
When I travel, I carry my own shower head that
has been drilled out. When I want to get clean,
I don't want to use a shower that sprays water
like one you might find in a motor home. "Don't
dribble on me" should be our new patriotic slogan.
Thanks Congress for screwing up the county's
plumbing.

TDD

On Oct 24, 9:26*am, Claude Hopper
wrote:
engwar wrote:
I was told recently I should have a water pressure regulator installed
as my pressure is too high.

We live in a two story house and some of the faucets on the second
story seem to have low pressure (or low flow rate.)

My questions are.

Will the faucets and shower-heads that have low pressure on the second
story get even worse after a pressure regulator is installed?

If the low pressure or flow rate on those faucets is due to the fact
that they are old and corroded I can see how the issues we're having
with those may not be affected by a pressure regulator.

Thanks.

If the pressure regulator is set higher than your low pressure on the
second floor it should not matter.

--
Claude Hopper * * * * *

? * * * ? * * * ¥- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


I would beg to differ. If he has low pressure/flow rate on the
upper floors, he has some kind of flow restriction leading to that
floor. Anything he does to lower the pressure where the service
enters the house is going to lower the flow rate of the water he gets
on the second floor.

I'd suggest following the advice to buy a simple screw on pressure
tester at a good hardware store, HD, etc. Then you'll know what the
pressure actually is. Who told you it was too high and how high was
it?

Big Al wrote:
"engwar" wrote in message
...

I was told recently I should have a water pressure regulator installed
as my pressure is too high.

We live in a two story house and some of the faucets on the second
story seem to have low pressure (or low flow rate.)

My questions are.

Will the faucets and shower-heads that have low pressure on the second
story get even worse after a pressure regulator is installed?

If the low pressure or flow rate on those faucets is due to the fact
that they are old and corroded I can see how the issues we're having
with those may not be affected by a pressure regulator.

Thanks.



How high IS the water pressure? You can buy a tester at Home Depot. If you
mess with cars and have a compression tester, you can stuff the rubber end
in the faucet and check it. Or, how's the flow at the downstairs faucets?
It's easy to test the upstairs faucets, just turn off the angle valve and
disconnect the pipe and check the flow right at the valve. If it's an old
house the angle valves could be stuck or you may cause a leak. Old pluming
is always something better off left untouched

If you lower the pressure, the water flow is going to slow down. That's a
given. Some of the new "low flow" faucets are really slow. The school I work
at has some that flow about a quart a minute. Cuss them every time I fill
the coffee maker.

Al


Apart from flow restrictions, the pressure difference between floors is
(for a 10 ft elevation difference) only 4.3 psi. Not enough to make
much of a difference.