Weird Water Pressure Problem

I’m looking for ideas on the cause of dramatic/severe and almost sudden loss of water pressure….

Here’s the scenario:

Water meter -> 1.25†black roll pipe to house (~600 ft) -> ¾†cutoff valve (basement) -> pressure regulator -> cut off valve -> whole house filter -> cutoff valve-> remainder of house.

Lived here for 15 years with NO troubles at all. We built the house.

Water pressure falls dramatically over the weekend—so that showering is not possible and filling the washing machine takes 1 hr+.

Sunday:
Call the water company. They have no other complaints from neighbors. My meter shows 0 consumption with all devices off—so I don’t have a busted line, right?

They replace the water meter.

Then they measure 50psi in the basement and on the other side of regulator at a hose spigot. They suggest my pressure regulator may be going bad.

Within 4 hrs of replacing the meter, things are back to near 0 psi.

Monday:
I replaced the pressure regulator. No discernable change at all and again pressure is non-existent. Can’t run washer, dishwasher, get shower, etc. A single toilet flush takes 30min to fill!

I’m almost to the point of digging a new line from meter to house I’m so frustrated. But I think the fact that replacing the meter and then having good pressure for a few hours, negates the possibility that my line is obstructed somewhere between the meter and the house. And the water company feels that the problem isn’t theirs, because no nearby neighbors are having problems. The question of why replacing the meter made things better temporarily is unanswered. I think that this points to a problem on their end.

What else can I do? Any ideas?

Thanx!

pressure

You told us that you have 50 psi at the regulator, but not what the incoming pressure is.

I had 50psi on both sides of the regulator AFTER the replaced the meter--but then only for a short period of time. Now its back to near zero....

What type "whole house" filter is that? If disposable cartridge, remove the cartridge and see what happens. If a backwashed or regenerated filter, by-pass it and see what happens. Always suspect any filter or softener fiirst....

Gary
Quality Water Associates

that sucks

50psi on both sides of your regulator? sounds like you don't need one...
that filter does sound suspicious, also wonder if your supply (the black plastic pipe) has become crushed in a spot. this would allow the pressure to register, but not the water to flow.

Good point Kristi. I'd think that wouldn't happen suddenly but there is something shutting of flow.

Maybe those stop valves at the meter or PR valve... one or both may be a gate valve and the gate has dropped due to the stem breaking off?

Gary
Quality Water Associates

No way the pipe can be cushed. It's been 30" underground for 15 years.

My current thinking is that some debris is catching at the 1.25" to 0.75" reduction just before it enters the house. And when they put the new meter in, the backflow from the house to the meter, washed the debris toward the meter--but unfortunately, not out of the pipe before the new meter was connected. Then, after some use for a short while, the debris made it's way back to the suspected clog point. This would explain why chaning out the meter worked for a short while.

Also, I changed the cartridge in my filter just 5-6 weeks ago. If the debris were in the house, it would make its way toward one device--not every plumbing fixture in the house (washer, sinks, toilets, garden spigots, etc)? Of course it's possible the debris came thru the 3/4 line and somehow clogged the filter--but that seems unlikely to me.

I might add that the water co. changed out the main lines down my street last fall--upsizing the main and installing fire hydrants. 8 months would seem to be enough time to get any crap out of the lines--but you never know.

I'll definitely check the filter.

Thanks for the help!

Sounds like you have it figured out, pc. Just for future info, the pipe most certainly can become crushed, the more years in the ground the more likely. And 30" is not very deep into the ground, AND you had heavy vibrating machinery digging up and replacing water main only the year before! So it could be just about anything, but just letting you know that you have indeed had a situation that could render your main line crushed. I have also found (after a city main line replacement) a lovely sized rock in one of these lines that just tumbled around inside the line for months until you find it and remove it!!! Sometimes plugging the line, sometimes letting water through...not fun

The water company has verified that the problem is *in* the house.

They back-flushed the line from house to meter, tested the pressure regulator and also verified the filter was ok. So now I’m totally lost as to how to find/fix the blockage. The fact that *everything* in the house is restricted would make one think the problem is somewhere in the house trunk line. It doesn’t help matters any that my house is a 2 story….

Any ideas on how to isolate the blockage?

Please ignore the last post. My wife was mistaken about the water company flushing the line. The only thing they did was pull the meter and verify 55psi on my side of the meter. So a blockage can still be in the line...

water pressure

why dont you just turn off the water
in the pit, then take apart the new prv valve

and then turn the water on out in the pit and see what happens....


either your wife will be screaming for you to turn the
water back off cause its flooding her out,


or you will know its in the yard and not in the house......

very simple , very easy .....
--------------------------------------------------------------------
if you got water to the inside prv valve then you might want to check

out that whole house filter ??

You dont have a water conditoner , right??

next would be a stoppage in the main line...

my bet its the filter or conditioner..

And I still see those old stop valves before and after the PR valve.

Gary
Quality Water Associates

Solved!

Master plumber Mark was right. It was the whole house filter. I don't understand why changing out the meter made it work temporarily--other than to guess there were multiple problems.

I changed the filter about 6 weeks ago. This filter does NOT appear to be 'consumed' with debris at all, but as soon as you put it in the housing--no water comes through it. I plan to call the mfr. and investigate as to how/what happened. Prior to this time, I only changed out the filter once every 3-6 months and never had a problem. Not sure why this time was different.

I also plan to change out all of my seat valves in the trunk line with ball valves and add a few branch ball valves as well.

Thanks to all for their inputs!

The correct way to know when to change disposable cartridges is by the pressure drop across them; 15 psi, not by how they look or how long they are used.

Yep, always suspect any filter or softener first...

But hey, ya got a new meter and was it a new PR valve too and you found out you don't have much pressure coming from the street to start with and found the problem.

The cartridge is plugged up with invisible dirt, which proves it worked as designed if the micron rating is 45 micron or less.

Gary
Quality Water Associates

whoile house filters

I see a lot of those fil=ters and they are
nothing but a pain in the butt....


I dont think they are worth the trouble

Are you not better off just to install a water conditioner..

and get soft water too??

one question

will you call the water co to explane it was your problem ?