Water pressure issues - Copper vs PEX

[ohal3000]

Hello. First time posting, I searched for my question and didn't find anything.

My house has terrible water pressure. I am on a well. The pressure tank gives good pressure and even the first hose outlet off the main before entering the house is good. But everything after the pipe enters the house is weak. Some outlets are worse than others. The hose outlets are bad, and everything that separately goes through the water softener is weak.

There are long copper runs too. The water has to travel a good distant to snake through the garage to the softener, then snake back to the house to distribute to various places.

Here are some questions.

I know steel pipes can corrode and clog pipes but can my copper build up the same way? I see white (not really green) residue all over every sweat connection.

Do the many 90 degree elbows from snaking all through my building affect pressure substantially enough?

Would replacing some of the easiest to access pipes with PEX help? Or can one bad pipe/spot effect the pressure of the entire house?

Thanks for you help

 

[Reach4]

Get a garden hose thread pressure gauge. Measure pressure losses. You can attach that to laundry taps, hose outlets, and the drain line for the water heater. Pipes that are not carrying flowing water do not have pressure drops, other than for altitude differences.

PSI is more meaningful than feelings.

Elbows and tees do reduce pressure in flowing water.

Look around the water softener. Is there maybe a cartridge filter? You can try bypassing the water softener for testing. Is the flow to the tub etc much better that way?

Yes, copper pipes could become partially blocked with deposits before the softener.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[JohnCT]

Are we talking about 1/2" from the softener out to the house, or 3/4" and reduced for individual taps? Does the softener tank(s) have a bypass feature?

I've seen copper pipes greatly reduced with deposits from wells. If you suspect that, open one of the pipes and inspect what's inside.

BTW, I've *twice* had full flow ball valves suffer a failure where the handle spins inside the ball greatly limiting the complete rotation of the ball, but that was on a low pH well. I remember shutting off the water at the pressure tank to do some work, and getting about half pressure when turning the water back on. I had to replace that valve twice over 10 years for the same problem.

John

 

[Reach4]

BTW, I've *twice* had full flow ball valves suffer a failure where the handle spins inside the ball greatly limiting the complete rotation of the ball, but that was on a low pH well. I remember shutting off the water at the pressure tank to do some work, and getting about half pressure when turning the water back on. I had to replace that valve twice over 10 years for the same problem.

Care to name that valve?

 

[Fitter30]

1/2" copper . 092 per ft @ 4 gpm ell 1ft
3/4" copper . 016 per ft@ 4gpm ell 1.5 ft

Pressure drop through softener could be as high as 10-15 lbs

 

[JohnCT]

Care to name that valve?

I don't know if I still have them. I'll check. It did come from Home Depot though..

John

 

[Terry]

Galvanized pipe and copper have the same inside diameter. PEX has the same Outside diameter as copper and CPVC but like CPVC, is smaller on the inside. Sizing with PEX means taking that into consideration. Distance also makes a difference because of friction loss. When sizing we take into consideration the number and type of plumbing fixtures we're serving, as well as the distance to them.

Steel pipes fill with rust on the inside over time, copper doesn't.

A chart for PEX

A standard one-bath home with kitchen sink, dishwasher, water heater, clothes-washer, 1.6 tank toilet, lavatory, tub/shower combo and two hose bibs would be counted as 18 fixture units.

Most standard two bath homes consisting of kitchen sink, dishwasher, water heater, clothes-washer, two 1.6 tank toilet, two lavatories, one shower, one tub/shower combo, and two hose bibs would be counted as 23.5 fixture units.

Most standard three bath homes consisting of kitchen sink, dishwasher, water heater, clothes-washer, three 1.6 tank toilet, four lavatories, two showers, one tub/shower combo, one whirlpool bath and two hose bibs would be counted as 34 fixture units.

A full bath is 6.5 units
Toilet, 2.5 units
Tub, 4.0 units
Lav, 1.0 units

3/4 bath is 4.5 units
Toilet, 2.5 units
Shower, 2.0 units
Lav, 1.0 units

Kitchen sink, 1.5 units
Dishwasher, 1.5 units

Washer, 4.0 units
Laundry tray, 2.0 units

Hosebib, 2.5 units
Additional hosebibs, 1.0