Quote:
Originally Posted by vmaxnc
Isn't the city responsible for keeping the water pressure at a proper level?
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No.
Current building code requires a pressure reducing valve if the water pressure coming to the house is greater than 80 psi. I'd recommend putting on a valve for a lot less than that.
CMUD has 3 pumping stations, 1 - Lake Norman, 2 - Mountain Island Lake, and that water is forced through the system all over the county. Hence, there are going to be some areas where the pressure is quite high, and others that will just barely get water during drought periods when everyone is watering their lawn.
Since I live at Lake Norman, the pressure here is quite high and there is a reducing valve on the house. However the builder put one outdoor faucet on the full pressure side of the line, and water comes out of that faucet like a fire hose. The pressure is so high that it eventually cracked the brass housing on the faucet and I had to stop using it because it could not be shut off if turned on. I can imagine what it would have done to a hot water tank or anything else like the plastic tubing inside a fridge.
Eventually I had a plumber replace that faucet with a high strength commercial version and it's quite nice to have a hose with that kind of pressure on it. I had to get a commercial hose because the pressure will split a standard one.