What's the water pressure limit in Cedar Park? (Austin: house, buy)

[AustinDude360]

We have really low water pressure and a neighbor suggested we adjust the water pressure limiter. I know in Austin it's 60PSI. I'm getting a water pressure gauge to check. Our water pressure has been really bad here...especially with showers.

[Austin97]

It might be your pressure reducing valve. They go bad @10-15 years and most likely you need to get yours replaced. It actually is used to deliver a constant pressure to your house even as you open up multiple spigots. As they go bad they no longer can auto adjust. We did buy ourselves some time by adjusting ours higher, but pressure would still drop if a toilet was flushed. When you measure your pressure do it to the outside faucet as that is closest to the actual water main.

Should cost about 300-400 to replace.

[AustinDude360]

Originally Posted by Austin97

It might be your pressure reducing valve. They go bad @10-15 years and most likely you need to get yours replaced. It actually is used to deliver a constant pressure to your house even as you open up multiple spigots. As they go bad they no longer can auto adjust. We did buy ourselves some time by adjusting ours higher, but pressure would still drop if a toilet was flushed. When you measure your pressure do it to the outside faucet as that is closest to the actual water main.

Should cost about 300-400 to replace.

I checked my pressure and got 60PSI with one faucet turned on. With multiple it drops as low as 40. Should I look into getting it replaced?

[bpvarian]

I'm pretty sure the water pressure limit in Austin is 65 PSI. Are you measuring cold water water pressure?

[unihills]

Originally Posted by AustinDude360

I checked my pressure and got 60PSI with one faucet turned on. With multiple it drops as low as 40. Should I look into getting it replaced?

You can't check pressure with multiple faucets turned on.

If you screw the pressure gauge to a hose bibb, open that valve and read 60 psi, then your pressure regulating valve seems to be operating correctly. You don't check the pressure with any actual water flowing anywhere, the pressure gauge keeps it a closed system.

[mascro]

Pressure might not be your problem. A few years ago we had what we thought was a water pressure problem at our house, just 11 years old. Water would slow to almost a trickle in the shower if someone flushed a toilet. Plumber replaced the pressure regulator and a pressure gauge indicated everything was fine. Problem persisted. A smarter plumber checked the volume of water that was coming out of the faucet, and it was too little, something like 3 or 4 gallons per minute. Then he checked it at our side of the water, between the meter and the pressure regulator, and it was also slow there. That's when he called the city of Austin, and a city engineer showed up the same day and checked the flow before the meter, and it was bad there. Our house was only getting 3 or 4 gallons per minute, and next door was getting 14. He scheduled a repair immediately.

A crew showed up that evening, worked throughout the night locating the blockage, replaced the blocked line, and repaired the torn up street with temporary asphalt until street department could do official street repair. A guy from the crew told me that there was a golf-ball size mineral deposit in the line, blocking flow to our house.

Check this yourself by drawing water at one of your fastest faucets - for us it was the bathtub. Time how long it takes to fill a 1 gallon container. Before the repair, it took 20 or 30 seconds. After, it takes about 5 seconds.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by AustinDude360

I checked my pressure and got 60PSI with one faucet turned on. With multiple it drops as low as 40. Should I look into getting it replaced?

yes, some newer ones can be fixed, but older ones have to be replaced.

[AustinDude360]

I was measuring my outside faucet in the backyard. It was cold water. Our water is very low compared to what we were used to when we lived in NE Austin. Could you PM me the name of the plumber you use Mascro? I had AAA Auger look at it and they said it had to do with gauge limiter in Cedar Park as they make the water pressure low in this area. It was left on for a little and when I came back the guage was at 40 PSI. When I first turned it out it was at 60 PSI and dropped from there.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by unihills

You can't check pressure with multiple faucets turned on.

If you screw the pressure gauge to a hose bibb, open that valve and read 60 psi, then your pressure regulating valve seems to be operating correctly. You don't check the pressure with any actual water flowing anywhere, the pressure gauge keeps it a closed system.

I dont think this is correct. The purpose of the pressure reducing valve is to keep your house at a constant pressure even as you vary your water usage. The classic example is watching the pressure drop when you flush the toilet. When you flush, the pressure at the hose bib should stay constant.

This is definitely a sign that your PRV needs to either be fixed (probably not too likely) or replaced. The actual cost is only about $60 for a good PRV so the other $300 is labor and profit

You can do an internet search to see what they look like (a bell with a screw on top). You can buy them at home depot. Maybe a plumber would install it for you (some prob wont) and you can save some money.

You can find it at the front of your house, just after your water main. Ours is inside one of the 6 inch diameter holes with the cast iron lid.

[unihills]

Originally Posted by Austin97

I dont think this is correct. The purpose of the pressure reducing valve is to keep your house at a constant pressure even as you vary your water usage. The classic example is watching the pressure drop when you flush the toilet. When you flush, the pressure at the hose bib should stay constant.

This is definitely a sign that your PRV needs to either be fixed (probably not too likely) or replaced. The actual cost is only about $60 for a good PRV so the other $300 is labor and profit

You can do an internet search to see what they look like (a bell with a screw on top). You can buy them at home depot. Maybe a plumber would install it for you (some prob wont) and you can save some money.

You can find it at the front of your house, just after your water main. Ours is inside one of the 6 inch diameter holes with the cast iron lid.

The PRV will keep pressure at 60 psi at the valve. If you are reading pressure at a hose bibb downstream of the outlet you are flowing from it will only tell you the pressure at that point, which will be less than the value at the PRV since there is pressure loss at the flowing outlet upstream of the gauge.

I don't honestly know if it is just a max pressure regulator or a variable flow constant pressure regulator used in this application.