water pressure problem following minor repair - Plumbing Forum

jaw444 · 11-21-2011, 07:10 AM

A couple of weeks ago, it was pointed out to me that a valve was leaking in the front of my house. I called my plumber, he came over, tested my water pressure with a gauge, said it was 90, he said that was correct, then replaced a worn out regulator valve and the leak was stopped. But from that day on, my water pressure is noticeably weaker. I called the plumber to see if this was just an adjustment of the pressure that i could do myself. He said he thought the regulator might be bad and would need to come out to look at it.

My question is, could just replacing a regulator valve cause a weakening of water pressure?

thanks for any info

**johnjh2o** · 11-21-2011, 11:19 AM

It could be the new PRV needs adjusting. Or the old one wasn't working and you have become use to the the higher pressure. 90 PSI is to high. The new valve should reduce the pressure to 60-70 PSI.

John

jaw444 · 11-21-2011, 05:40 PM

thanks for the reply. The plumber mentioned a range of what the pressure should be and 90 was right in the middle.

The problem is, the pressure was just right before the repair, it wasn't just that i was used to it, it's like it's been in other places i've lived or visit. Now, it's not sufficient. With just toilet paper, the two toilets have a hard time getting it all down, sometimes two flushes are needed. The shower is terrible, the water doesn't penetrate my hair. It was OK before, borderline, it could not go any lower than it was but it was OK. It was much less than at my previous home (i just moved here in March) but it was OK, i liked it fine.

Are there ways of fixing this? Would just adjusting the pressure up help? Do i need to have the plumber come out again and pay him or can i try adjusting the pressure? I've checked the pressure in the backyard before with a gauge which i have but it looked simpler than what i see in the front, i'm not sure where to put the gauge, there are more than one opening and i really don't know what i'm doing, i don't want to cause any damage.

thanks again

**johnjh2o** · 11-21-2011, 06:59 PM

You can get a pressure that you can attach to the outside faucet. If you could post a picture of your pressure reducing valve either I or many others on this board will be able to tell you how to adjust it.

John

jaw444 · 11-22-2011, 07:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnjh2o

You can get a pressure that you can attach to the outside faucet. If you could post a picture of your pressure reducing valve either I or many others on this board will be able to tell you how to adjust it.

John

great, thanks. i posted a couple of photos I do have a pressure gauge which a guy who worked on my sprinklers once suggest get. I used it on the faucet in the back but i no longer remember how i used it or how to adjust the pressure. And the one in the front looks kind of different. here are a couple of photos. One difference i see compared to the back is that in the back, there is a handle to turn the water on and off.

**johnjh2o** · 11-22-2011, 11:17 AM

What was replaced was a pressure relief valve not the pressure reducing valve. Your plumber is probably right. The pressure reducing valve needs to be serviced or replaced. In most cases replacement is the way to go.

John

jaw444 · 11-22-2011, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnjh2o

What was replaced was a pressure relief valve not the pressure reducing valve. Your plumber is probably right. The pressure reducing valve needs to be serviced or replaced. In most cases replacement is the way to go.

John

OK, thanks. I think on the invoice, it just says PRV, same initials either way. It says "Replace PRV on main water line." Is the pressure reducing valve the same thing as the regulator? because that's what he said on the phone, the regulator might be bad. Would a faulty pressure reducing valve cause pressure to be too low, and might replacing or repairing it fix my problem and restore my shower and toilets to their previous OK functioning? Is that a relatively expensive repair? (i mean, replacing the Pressure Relief Valve cost $90. Is replacing the Pressure Reducing Valve a lot more than that, like several hundred, usually?)

Does this mean that there is no adjusting i can do myself to try to fix the problem?

I don't know if this might be related or not, but for a long time i've had really high DWP bills, since around Fall of 2009, and most of the high cost is coming from water. It's illogical that this is all coming from one person, i live here alone. I have automatic sprinklers that run three times a week for 10 minutes. front yard and backyard. These are small yards. I have now turned those off and am running it manually once a week or less to see if that lowers my bill, but it's almost a $700 for two months bill, and the water portion is huge. My next door neighbor with the same kind of house has 6 people living in her house and their bill is around $450. They don't have backyard sprinklers and she says they turn off their front yard sprinklers in the winter and let their grass go brown. Maybe that's why their bill is so much lower? but still, 6 people? They are all home all day. I'm at work all day, don't get home til 7 or 8, i don't have many dishes to wash, don't shower every day, and don't shower for long. I've had plumbers check around and i've DWP check, no idea why it costs so much. Don't know how to find out. it's a 1956 3 bedroom house on about 1600' on a 5300' lot. $683 was my last two month bill, including power, sewage and water.

**havasu** · 11-23-2011, 02:14 AM

If your water bill is unusually high, I'd recommend shutting off all water sources and check your meter. If the dial is spinning at all, they you should suspect an underground leak.

jaw444 · 11-23-2011, 06:20 AM

havasu--what do you mean by shutting off all water sources? i know this is a dumb question but i'm not sure what that means. Do you mean the outside water main thing? once i couldn't turn the sprinklers off because a valve wasn't working, and the sprinkler repair person told me over the phone how to shut that main water switch off to turn the sprinkler off. Is there typically one of those in the backyard too? i haven't seen one. Last Christmas some family members were here and we were talking about my high water bill, and they looked at my meter in the front. the needle was moving. I don't know if i would call it 'spinning.' I called the DWP company and they said they would check it. Nothing came of that. The last time my plumber was here, he checked the meter. The needle was moving a little but not much. I don't know if he turned the water off at all sources. I called DWP again recently because i had a really high bill, then i had the toilet flapper replaced so the toilet stopped running, and the next bill i got was even higher, so i called them and they said they would check it.

jaw444 · 11-23-2011, 06:22 AM

the plumber is coming friday to test the pressure and if necessary, to replace the regulator, he said he was going to bring the parts. He said it would take about two hours. I guess that's going to be a few hundred dollars? i wish i had my leaky pressure relief valve back and my good water pressure, at this point.