water pressure off the charts

[dsss]

I decided to measure my water pressure during a WH swap and I measured it at 140-150PSI at the outside hose connection on one side of the house and 60 at the farthest side. My neighbor is at 50.
I am now looking into pressure reducing valves, but should I reach out to the town - is this something that should be looked at externally?

Also, any recommendations for DIY non-weld installation? Is Caleffi a good brand? ie 535751HA. I will probably need two valves as I have a branch very close to water meter that is switching to pex, while the rest of the house is copper.

 

[Twowaxhack]

Hose bibbs are often not regulated.

Check the pressure inside at the water heater or washing machine valve.

You may already have a PRV.

Make sure you address thermal expansion with your new water heater. Most use an expansion tank if expansion control is necessary and or required. In your case thermal expansion control will be necessary.

 

[dsss]

thank you @Twowaxhack , I did not have the expansion tank but just added it as part of new WH install. Its while trying to determine if I need to raise the pressure in the tank to match the house pressure that I discovered that mine is at 150 at that one outside faucet.

What do you mean "Hose bibbs are often not regulated."? I just realized that the branch where I measured is reduced from 3/4 to 1/2 just before it exists the house - could that be skewing the measurement?

Looks like I can easily measure inside where I connect to the expansion tank, just need a male connector.

 

[Twowaxhack]

You can measure the inside pressure at the water heater drain valve.

Outside hose faucets are often not reduced pressure while the rest of the home is regulated by a PRV for the inside piping.

In other words you might already have a PRV but the faucet you measured pressure at is piped before the PRV.

 

[havasu]

If you are on a municipal water system like mine, call them first. My city will install PRV's free of charge to all homeowners in the city, since they have been forced to increase pressures.

 

[dsss]

Ive measured the pressure at the expansion tank port, very close to water heater - the reading is 140.
I am pretty sure there are no PRVs in the house, as all the plumbing is exposed in the basement and I can trace all lines.

Will call the utility and see what they say.

Thanks!

 

[dsss]

Talking to utility, they said that they dont provide PRVs, but then I discovered that there is possibly one before the meter, see attached pictures. Based on the numbers on the metallic label it seems to be PRV and its probably failed?

 

[Twowaxhack]

That’s definitely a PRV.

 

[dsss]

That’s definitely a PRV.

Thanks! Looks pretty rusty... And the shutoff before it - I am afraid to touch it
I think I should be able to replace it on my own. It looks standard pressure fitting on the bottom and just screw in on the top. I cant make out the model - the label is completely wiped out.

 

[TomFOhio]

It looks like it has been leaking for a long time. It even has the ball valve below it all corroded looking. I would look
up wolverine brass and see if you can get the same one.

 

[dsss]

Thank you for that advice! It looks like they only have one model that matches the functionality and size Wolverine Brass 84052NL 1" FIP Bronze Pressure Reducing Valve

I'll double check and probably order one. Seems like price is in the midrange for such things.

Doesnt seem that the main distributor will have them for a while and nobody else sells them. Finding a direct replacement might be a challenge :-(