Water pressure mystery

[Dollar_Bill]

I have an older house, galvanized pipes. The water pressure is usually "fair". But sometimes it goes to almost nothing, then it comes back to "fair". This is on all the fixtures, hot and cold.

Unless the City is experiencing severe fluctuations, I haven't been able to figure this out. I just thought about this and will check with the neighbors.

Replacing all the plumbing is an option, but the tenant has been satisfied with the "fair" pressure and we are looking at quite an expense, the house is about 125 yards from the street and sits on top of a hill.

Any other ideas about how the water could be fluctuating?

 

[speedbump]

Are you sure your not on a well/pump.

 

[waterwelldude]

Seeing you are on city water. Is the home on the end of the line or run of pipe?(are there any homes down stream from your main water tap?) This could be that houses ahead of you on the same main could be using water, and taking some of the pressure off the line, leaving you with less pressure on your end of the line.
Does the low pressure happen at the same time of day, or is it at random times?

 

[Dollar_Bill]

Not on a well/pump. This is downtown Atlanta.

I will check with other people on the street and see if they are also having problems.

A Forum member has suggested a couple of things to check.

1. Is there an anti-backflow valve that could be malfunctioning? Could be placed in the house or at the water meter.

2. If the cutoff valve in the house has rubber washer, it could be loose/malfunctioning.