1/2" pipe throughout house and low pressure

plumb5427 · Dec 5, 2013

Greetings.

My home has always had low pressure. I have city water, but I'm on a dead end section further away from the source. I have tested my outside spigots and only get between 25 and 40 psi. I've had the city here twice and they always say the volume and pressure are OK.
I previously moved to this home, and my other house had a 60+ psi well. This is about half that pressure, and only when no one else on the street is using water.
I noticed that the main line that comes into the house is 3/4 inch. it then connects to the city meter, and immediately drops to a 1/2" pipe. 1/2" pipe then continues to all points in the house.
Would I see any improvement on pressure/volume if i upgraded any of that 1/2" to 3/4"? Perhaps even if I just extended it just a bit closer to the faucets?

Thanks for any assistance on this.

phishfood · Dec 5, 2013

You say "only when no one else on the street is using water". So you notice a pressure drop on a gauge when someone else uses water?

What type of piping both the water main and the piping inside the house, are we talking about? Galvanized, copper, PEX, CPVC?

plumb5427 · Dec 5, 2013

Thanks for your reply. The amount of flow at all faucets varies depending on the time of day. At 6 pm, when everyone is cooking dinner, the flow is the worst. At late morning, the flow is the best (35-45psi).

The piping in the house is all copper; I should have mentioned that.

thanks again

speedbump · Dec 6, 2013

The only suggestion I have beyond a major re-plumb is a booster pump. A little 1/2hp Jet Pump could make a big difference. It could be used with a tank and pressure switch or triggered with a flow switch.

plumb5427 · Dec 6, 2013

speedbump said:
The only suggestion I have beyond a major re-plumb is a booster pump. A little 1/2hp Jet Pump could make a big difference. It could be used with a tank and pressure switch or triggered with a flow switch.

Thanks for the help Speedbump. The booster sounds like a good option. Because I only would only need about 30 feet of 3/4 to upgrade the bulk of the trunk line, to reach the important areas (kitchen sink, bathtub), do you think it would be reasonable to replace that 30' or 1/2" with 3/4" if it was easily accessible? I live in a single story ranch and the pipe enters the middle of the house and those areas are pretty much only a few feet away.

Thanks