House water pressure

[capecodder1]

What is normal pressure and how is it regulated ? My whole house water treatment system has a gauge showing the pressure at the input from the street. It normally reads 65-70 PSI, but at times has read 80 PSI and once recently100 PSI. The water department had no idea why.

[retiredguy123]

65 to 70 is good, but 100 is too high. The pressure should be the same for the entire house because it is a closed system. I would suggest that you buy another pressure gauge that will screw onto an outside hose bibb from Amazon for about 10 dollars. Then you can measure your house pressure from any outside hose bibb. Do you have an expansion tank on your water heater? If so, test it to see if it is functioning properly. Use a metal screw driver or other hard device to tap the top and bottom parts of the expansion tank. The bottom should give you a dull thud sound, but the top part should provide a hollow sound. If you get a dull thud at the top, then your expansion tank has most likely failed. This can cause your water pressure to get too high, regardless of the pressure at the outside meter.

[Bill14564]

What is normal pressure and how is it regulated ? My whole house water treatment system has a gauge showing the pressure at the input from the street. It normally reads 65-70 PSI, but at times has read 80 PSI and once recently100 PSI. The water department had no idea why.

I would see what the gauge shows after running a faucet for 10 seconds or so. If it drops to normal then I would suspect a failed expansion tank at the hot water heater.

Input pressure from the street should be pretty static. A neighbor who measured his told me he saw between 65 and 70 which matches yours.

There is a check valve preventing backflow from the house to the street. If something causes the pressure to rise in your house, the valve will prevent the pressure from pushing back into the street. The result is your house pressure will be higher than the street pressure. One common cause of this is a failed expansion tank at the water heater.

Water expands as it is heated in your hot water heater. The expansion tank gives the water a place to expand into without raising the pressure in the lines. If the tank has failed then there is no expansion room and the pressure rises instead. In my case, the increased pressure was enough to cause my shower to drip even with the valve turned off.

Running water for 10 seconds should relieve any built-up pressure and show the true street pressure.

[Topspinmo]

I think normal area water pressure 55 - 60 PSI. When all neighbors are running irrigation in my area it can drop to 40 or 45?

[Bill14564]

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[capecodder1]

65 to 70 is good, but 100 is too high. The pressure should be the same for the entire house because it is a closed system. I would suggest that you buy another pressure gauge that will screw onto an outside hose bibb from Amazon for about 10 dollars. Then you can measure your house pressure from any outside hose bibb. Do you have an expansion tank on your water heater? If so, test it to see if it is functioning properly. Use a metal screw driver or other hard device to tap the top and bottom parts of the expansion tank. The bottom should give you a dull thud sound, but the top part should provide a hollow sound. If you get a dull thud at the top, then your expansion tank has most likely failed. This can cause your water pressure to get too high, regardless of the pressure at the outside meter.

REPLY:
My NOVA system is new and has two pressure gauges, so I feel the readings I am seeing are accurate. My expansion tank recently failed and was replaced by my plumber, but I don't think that had anything to do with my pressure concern . Does anyone know how the water pressure is regulated ? Is it part of the water meter outside the home ? I have not seen the 100 PSI reading again, but I could have missed it. My next step is to call the water department again and ask how the pressure is regulated.
Thanks for your reply.

[retiredguy123]

REPLY:
My NOVA system is new and has two pressure gauges, so I feel the readings I am seeing are accurate. My expansion tank recently failed and was replaced by my plumber, but I don't think that had anything to do with my pressure concern . Does anyone know how the water pressure is regulated ? Is it part of the water meter outside the home ? I have not seen the 100 PSI reading again, but I could have missed it. My next step is to call the water department again and ask how the pressure is regulated.
Thanks for your reply.
As I understand it, the pressure is regulated by a pressure regulator on the street side of the meter. But there is nothing to prevent an increase in the water pressure after it has flowed through the meter and entered your house. There is a backflow preventer to prevent the backflow of water on the house side of the meter. So, the pressure regulator can reduce the incoming pressure to 70 psi, but there is nothing to control the pressure after it has entered your house. That is why you have an expansion tank. It doesn't hurt to have an extra pressure gauge to measure the water pressure at an outside hose bibb.

[Bill14564]

REPLY:
My NOVA system is new and has two pressure gauges, so I feel the readings I am seeing are accurate. My expansion tank recently failed and was replaced by my plumber, but I don't think that had anything to do with my pressure concern . Does anyone know how the water pressure is regulated ? Is it part of the water meter outside the home ? I have not seen the 100 PSI reading again, but I could have missed it. My next step is to call the water department again and ask how the pressure is regulated.
Thanks for your reply.

It sounds like your best option is to call the water department.

I have seen nothing that looks like a pressure regulator in my water system, not at my heater, not at my shutoff, and not in the meter box. It might be buried or I might have missed it but I haven’t seen it. I would guess that there is none since I would expect it to be set to 60PSI and not 70PSI but that is just my guess.

[Ignatz]

We’re in the Meggison Rd area and the pressures on our Nova gauges both read 60 psi on a regular basis.

They said that is the normal rating and it’s time to change filters when the pressure starts to go up from there.

[arbajeda]

Same thing was happening to me. It was blowing out the threads on our Nova filter housing. Called Ross Plumbing and had them install a pressure regulator, set it to 60 psi and had no problems since. The problem isn't with your home's plumbing.

[Ritagoyer]

REPLY:
My NOVA system is new and has two pressure gauges, so I feel the readings I am seeing are accurate. My expansion tank recently failed and was replaced by my plumber, but I don't think that had anything to do with my pressure concern . Does anyone know how the water pressure is regulated ? Is it part of the water meter outside the home ? I have not seen the 100 PSI reading again, but I could have missed it. My next step is to call the water department again and ask how the pressure is regulated.
Thanks for your reply.
When were the whole house filters replaced, that can cause the pressure to rise if dirty.

[retiredguy123]

I don't know exactly where the potable water pressure is controlled for every Villages neighborhood, but the plumbing code requires water suppliers to maintain a water pressure of less than 80 psi as supplied to the house. However, this does not mean that the pressure cannot exceed 80 psi after it enters your house and passes through the backflow device. A defective expansion tank can definitely cause the water pressure to go above 80 psi. Typically, the builder does not install a pressure gauge in houses, but they should. I think all homeowners should buy a 10 dollar pressure gauge that will allow you to measure the water pressure at your outside hose bibbs, and to check the pressure periodically.

[Captainpd]

I think normal area water pressure 55 - 60 PSI. When all neighbors are running irrigation in my area it can drop to 40 or 45?

Thinking irrigation uses a different supply.. (I hope)

[retiredguy123]

Thinking irrigation uses a different supply.. (I hope)
Some of the older sections of The Villages use potable water for irrigation. However, most Villages houses have a totally separate irrigation water system. Note that any spigot that will accomodate a hose connection, including the ones connected to your house, must be potable water.

[Captainpd]

I think normal area water pressure 55 - 60 PSI. When all neighbors are running irrigation in my area it can drop to 40 or 45?

Thinking irrigation uses a different supply.. (I hope)