Water pressure coming into meter too high?

[Diehard]

Good information @FishScreener!
Out of curiosity I just downloaded and searched through our Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection's Guidelines for Public Water Systems. Could not find any reference to Maximum Pressures.

 

[nopro]

Per, Georgia Environmental Protection Division which has regulatory control of all public water systems in the state:

MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR
PUBLIC WATER SYSTEMS
May, 2000
Drinking Water Permitting & Engineering Program Georgia Environmental Protection Division 205 Butler Street, S.E.
Floyd Towers East, Suite # 1362
Atlanta, Georgia 30334


7.1.1 f. “The system must be designed to maintain a minimum pressure of 20 psi at each service connection and at all points in distribution system under all conditions of flow. The normal working pressure in the distribution system should be approximately 60 psi and not less than 35 psi.”

7.1.1 g. “Wide variations in pressure above the minimum requirement of 20 psi may be inherent in the design of a distribution system but pressures no greater than 100 psi should be delivered to the customer (unless higher pressures are requested.) The 100 psi maximum pressures can be met by pressure reducing valves in vicinity of each customer's source line, or by designing the distribution system to limit the maximum pressure.”

I recommend that you call the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and get them involved. Also, contact the Board of Professional Engineers, and get them involved. This is a matter of gross negligence on the part of the Engineer who designed the system.

The system is responsible for the cost of the pressure reduction, not you. Send them the bill, and see what happens.

All the states have very similar regulations, because the federal clean water act, gave the EPA, jurisdiction over water systems, and gave them the authority to delegate that authority to the States, if the State has regulation and monitoring equal or more stringent than the EPA regulations.

So the above requirements are the EPA direction, and are the standard nearly everywhere in the nation.

Seems you know your stuff FishScreener and I really do appreciate you sharing with all. You probably informed a lot of people of some info they were not aware of. As mentioned at this time I have had the secondary PRV installed downstream from my meter and am hope that will permanently correct my high pressure problem unless the PRV fails. Since I have already undertaken this correction and have not had severe failures like some of my neighbors I don't want to take on a government entity at this time. But I will pass your advice along to them. We all know that fighting government entities takes a long time and does not go over well unless you file class action suits. But thanks again for your advice and information.

 

[FishScreener]

Seems you know your stuff FishScreener and I really do appreciate you sharing with all. You probably informed a lot of people of some info they were not aware of. As mentioned at this time I have had the secondary PRV installed downstream from my meter and am hope that will permanently correct my high pressure problem unless the PRV fails. Since I have already undertaken this correction and have not had severe failures like some of my neighbors I don't want to take on a government entity at this time. But I will pass your advice along to them. We all know that fighting government entities takes a long time and does not go over well unless you file class action suits. But thanks again for your advice and information.

It’s the kind of thing that a neighborhood association could pretty easily do.

 

[FishScreener]

Good information @FishScreener!
Out of curiosity I just downloaded and searched through our Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection's Guidelines for Public Water Systems. Could not find any reference to Maximum Pressures.

I now live and work in Idaho, and among my other duties, I’m the operator for 43 small public water systems. But I’m a licensed engineer in five states now, and familiar with the regs in four of them. Idaho, Utah, and Nevada have the requirements as statutes. Wyoming, has it in a design standards manual.

In all four of the states, designing a system that delivered more than 100-psi to the meter, would result in the Engineer loosing their license for at least a year, with a requirement, that they go take 9-semester hours of courses in fluid mechanics, and water systems design. Two of the states would suspend the license of the contractor who built the system, and three states would suspend the system operators license. In Nevada, it would be grounds for the state to take ownership of the system.

I wasn’t shocked that the pressures were that high, but I was surprised. It’s just unexpected. I’m not even sure where you could buy waterline to withstand the pressure. If you could find it, I’m pretty sure, the cost of buying the pipe and valves designed to handle that high of pressure would far exceed the cost of installing main line, pressure reducing stations.

 

[Diehard]

Before I retired I worked for a large environmental consulting engineering company that designed water and wasterwater treatment plants, along with water and sewer distribution system, etc ,etc.
If it wasn't so long since I retired I'd seriously consider calling someone there and asking what the Massachusetts standards are for max. delivery pressures. Not sure who to call anymore.
As far as designing for that kind of pressure, the copper pipe itself wouldn't be a problem. More the joints and higher pressure rated valves,etc.

 

[FishScreener]

It’s not the house side, but the distribution side, where appropriate materials is the issue. The AWWA standards limit pressures, and most design standards reference, and are based on AWWA standards. So, finding valves, and distribution piping for higher working pressures is problematic, and expensive. Normally higher pressure piping is used in transmission mains, designed to transmit water between pressure zones, and not in the distribution mains intended to deliver water to the service points.

In most of the projects I worked on, it was less expensive to add a pressure reducing station every 125-ft of elevation drop, than to construct high pressure mains.

 

[Diehard]

It’s not the house side, but the distribution side, where appropriate materials is the issue. The AWWA standards limit pressures, and most design standards reference, and are based on AWWA standards. So, finding valves, and distribution piping for higher working pressures is problematic, and expensive. Normally higher pressure piping is used in transmission mains, designed to transmit water between pressure zones, and not in the distribution mains intended to deliver water to the service points.

In most of the projects I worked on, it was less expensive to add a pressure reducing station every 125-ft of elevation drop, than to construct high pressure mains.

Most definitely!
And in some cases rather then traveling very long distances with higher pressure or for higher elevations, Pump Stations would be added in the system.