1/2" pipe throughout house and low pressure

Plumbing Forums

Help Support Plumbing Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

plumb5427

New Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2013
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Location
,
Greetings.

My home has always had low pressure. I have city water, but I'm on a dead end section further away from the source. I have tested my outside spigots and only get between 25 and 40 psi. I've had the city here twice and they always say the volume and pressure are OK.
I previously moved to this home, and my other house had a 60+ psi well. This is about half that pressure, and only when no one else on the street is using water.
I noticed that the main line that comes into the house is 3/4 inch. it then connects to the city meter, and immediately drops to a 1/2" pipe. 1/2" pipe then continues to all points in the house.
Would I see any improvement on pressure/volume if i upgraded any of that 1/2" to 3/4"? Perhaps even if I just extended it just a bit closer to the faucets?

Thanks for any assistance on this.
 
You say "only when no one else on the street is using water". So you notice a pressure drop on a gauge when someone else uses water?

What type of piping both the water main and the piping inside the house, are we talking about? Galvanized, copper, PEX, CPVC?
 
Thanks for your reply. The amount of flow at all faucets varies depending on the time of day. At 6 pm, when everyone is cooking dinner, the flow is the worst. At late morning, the flow is the best (35-45psi).

The piping in the house is all copper; I should have mentioned that.

thanks again
 
The only suggestion I have beyond a major re-plumb is a booster pump. A little 1/2hp Jet Pump could make a big difference. It could be used with a tank and pressure switch or triggered with a flow switch.
 
The only suggestion I have beyond a major re-plumb is a booster pump. A little 1/2hp Jet Pump could make a big difference. It could be used with a tank and pressure switch or triggered with a flow switch.

Thanks for the help Speedbump. The booster sounds like a good option. Because I only would only need about 30 feet of 3/4 to upgrade the bulk of the trunk line, to reach the important areas (kitchen sink, bathtub), do you think it would be reasonable to replace that 30' or 1/2" with 3/4" if it was easily accessible? I live in a single story ranch and the pipe enters the middle of the house and those areas are pretty much only a few feet away.

Thanks
 
Going with larger pipe wherever you can will be somewhat of an improvement.
 
Back
Top