Water pressure question

I have poor water pressure from the outside faucets of my house. The water pressure inside the house seems to be fine. My pump has an on/off of 40/60 and it appers that the pressure in the bladder of the Well X Trol is +/- 1 psi of water the pressure gauge reads. I was wondering why there is terrible pressure outside. Also, whenever the dishwaser/shower/washer is operating the pressure outside is even less. The faucets do not say low flow or anything like that and the house is only 1.5 years old. Any sugestions would be appreciated. thank you

Low pressure outside is often caused by a combination of high flow, small pipe size, and long runs with a lot of elbows. Junky valves can also contribute to the problem.

The pipe size to your outside faucets should be at least as large as the largest for any use in the house, all the way from the source; usually 3/4" copper or 3/4" galvanized. If the outside faucet is coming off the side of a 1/2" tee, that is about the worst you can get.

Measure the flow in the faucet and compare it to your shower flow. I suspect that it is larger than any other flow in the house. Pressure loss varies nearly as the square of the flow. Therefore, 5 GPM outdoor faucet will cause nearly 4 times as much pressure loss in the pipe as a 2.5 GPM shower.

Hose bibs and boiler drains are often globe valve configurations that restrict flow. Some of the special outside faucets are not any better. If there is a bad washer in the faucet, it will be even worse.

You can't check the tanks pressure with water pressure in the tank. You will be reading the same pressure your gauge sees.

bob...

I have a filter connected to the system. It is an "aqua pure" brand filter and whenever I change it, there is usually lots of sedimented built up inside the filter. Lately I have changed it often, about once every 1-2 months, which gets expensive ($40 a pop) could the filter be causing the pressure loss? Also, I can't tell, but it looks like where the water enters the house the is a t-valve where the main shut off is. one way the water goes to the Well X Trol and the other way it goes up to the filter and through the softener system ond then to the rest of the house. I don't understand what or how the water is separated from going to the well tank fand rom going to the rest of the house. Is this poor placement of a valve?

Unless you have a Kinetico water softener you don't need that filter. I would get rid of it and quit spending that $40.00 for nothing.

This can also restrict the water flow tremendously. Try not changing it for 6 months. You will probably run out of water completely.

bob...

You don't say how big your filter is, but bigger is better and even though a change of cartridges costs more, your net cost of cartridges is less.

The water doesn't go through the tank. The tank is temporary storage to maintain pressure. It goes into the tank when pumping, and out of the tank when not pumping.

There is a solution that will help both your outside pressure AND reduce filter costs. Put a second tank AFTER the filter, and take your outside water from BEFORE the filter. Your existing tank with the pressure switch stays where it is, BEFORE the filter.

If you put the outside water line before the filter, you can backwash the filter by running outside water. You need to check to see if that causes a problem with the cartridge because they are not designed for significant backflow. If it causes a problem, then put a check valve right after the filter.

That does three things for you:
1. You are not filtering outside water, so the sediment that you would be collecting from the outside water is not using up the life of the filter.
2. You are cutting down on the flow rate through the filter. The first tank maintains pressure and continues to filter water at a lower rate when the pump is off. After a short time, the pressure on the second tank will equalize to the pressure in the first tank. The second tank will increase your pump cycle, which is good for the pump.
3. Your outside water pressure will be greater.

I would set the pressure switch range to the minimum that the switch will accommodate. Keep the top pressure where it is and increase the start pressure.

You need a pressure gauge on both sides of the filter. A gauge on both tanks will solve that if you put in the new tank as suggested.

The minimum that I would put in for a filter is a 20" long "Big Blue" size. A Harmsco HB-20-5W 5 micron cartridge lists for about $31.

I took out the filter and solved some pressure issues. It appears that the filter was restricting water flow.