Sudden increase in water pressure

**Steve Miller** · 07-12-2010, 07:19 PM

I am new to this site and am no plumber, but thanks for allowing me to post this question. About a month ago we awoke one morning to a howling sound in our pipes, initially it did it on it's own, then only when we turned the water on. It sounded like it was coming from the HW heater which is 6 years old. I drained it and flushed it as best I could. The howling stopped but there was still a loud sound of water running through the pipes whenever the water was turned on, there is no banging or vibration sound in the pipes. Also there seemed to be an increase in the water pressure throughout the house, but if the kitchen sink is running and the water is turned on elsewhere the kitchen pressure decreases. Today I flushed the toilet in the half bath, which is closest to the tank, and as it was filling there was a very loud sound coming from the pipe/valve like a jack hammer (water hammer?). The house is 6 years old, has an 80 gal HW heater which is the original, there is no expansion tank, there is a 1/4 turn shut off valve coming into the tank.
My question is what could cause this to happen out of the blue, and how do I go about fixing it?
Thanks

**Redwood** · 07-13-2010, 11:26 AM

Do you have a pressure reducing valve on your incoming water line?

It is usually located a short distance after the water meter before the supply line divides although sometimes outside hose bibbs may not be protected.
It will often look something like the picture below...

What is your actual pressure? Measure it with a gauge that screws onto a hose bibb like the one below...

**Steve Miller** · 07-17-2010, 10:00 AM

I finally got to check the pressure and it was well over 100 psi, crawled under the house to check the PRV. It was leaking very slightly, and had some white deposits on it (we have a lot of lime here). Tried to adjust the pressure with no luck, so I guess I'll replace the PRV and see if that helps.
Thanks for the help

**jadnashua** · 07-17-2010, 10:20 AM

You should also check the state of the expansion tank (and if you don't have one, install one). Verify that the pressure is good, and it is not full of water from a failed bladder.

**Steve Miller** · 07-17-2010, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by jadnashua

You should also check the state of the expansion tank (and if you don't have one, install one). Verify that the pressure is good, and it is not full of water from a failed bladder.

Thanks , don't have one but I guess that will be next install