County Water Pressure Too High

[Beltzington]

Our county water pressure routinely runs 100-110psi and I have recorded surges as high as 120. Calls to the utility dept. result in a service crew coming out throwing a leaky pressure gauge on a hose bib and telling me it is only 95psi which is below the 120psi maximum which would result in them providing me a free pressure regulator for my main, I would be responsible for the labor expense. Recently I had to install a new water heater and the instructions clearly said do not install if pressure exceeded 90psi. Monday I was talking to a neighbor and he said their bathroom flooded when the WC hose blew off and I had an icemaker input valve randomly fail flooding and damaging my ceramic tile floor in the kitchen. This time I have been persistent and finally got through to a manager that understood I wanted them to adjust the pressure for the area not make me pay to "fix" their problem at my house. Still waiting for a reply but everyone I have talked to seems to be hanging onto the policy of 120psi is the maximum allowable pressure is this reasonable? I found some county engineering specs online and they only address the minimum allowable pressure not the max. From my years of experience of DIY projects I believe 55-60psi is the recommended pressure for residential houses so I was shocked to here them tell me anything below 120psi was good to go.

 

[Citydude]

Yeah, 120# is way too high. Unfortunately, it sounds that dealing with the local government is fruitless. I would be putting a pressure regulator in.

 

[Bird]

When we lived on 10 acres in Navarro County, our water pressure was normally 100-110 psi, and I was on the board of directors for the water company.:laughing: When we bought a new double wide mobile home, I put my own pressure regulator on the line to that house. And now in town, our water pressure is usually right at 100 psi. We've been here 11 years and I don't know of any problem it's caused yet.

 

[STx]

Are you in an area with a lot of elevation change? If so, water companies need to run the pressure fairly high for it to be acceptable at the top of the hill. In Colorado, for example, pressures of 100PSI or more are pretty common and people at the lower elevations in the service, where the pressure is high, just install pressure reducing valves to compensate for it. You lose about .4PSI for every foot in elevation change so if they have a 100' elevation change, by the time it gets to the top of the hill, 100PSI turns into 60PSI.

If I were in your shoes, rather than fight the water company about it, I'd just take responsibility for it myself. The PRVs are not that expensive (Zurn-Wilkins 1 in. No Lead Brass Water Pressure Reducing Valve-1-NR3XL - The Home Depot), especially compared to replacing damaged fixtures or dealing with a burst pipe.

 

[SimS]

I'm with Citydude. Install a pressure regulator instead of banging your head against a bureaucratic wall. If the county "adjusts" the pressure, you still run the risk of the county 're-adusting" the pressure in the future and you're back to square one. Do it once and never worry about it again. Life's too short.

SimS

 

[Deere Dude]

A couple years ago we moved to the country where the pressure at the barn hydrant is 120 PSI and will blow my cheapy hoses apart all day long. I got better hoses to take care of that.

My new water heater in the house is also rated for lower pressure but we have a water regulator where the water come into the house to keep it down to about 50-60.

My understanding is, the city doesn't regulator the water pressure through pumps or devices. You and everybody else's pressure at the street is regulated by the elevation of the water towers hooked to the system Our towers are quite high in relation to our location, hence the higher pressure. People that live in the vicinity of the towers will have lower pressure.

If you are 1' below the highest level of water in the tower you will have .43 PSI. If you are 10' below you will have 4.3 PSI. A hundred feet will give you 43.3 psi and down the line.

So my house to give me 120 psi will be 279' below the water level in the water tower. Your 110 psi means you are 256' below the top level of water in the water tower. The only fix is a water regulator in your house.

 

[Beltzington]

If I were in your shoes, rather than fight the water company about it, I'd just take responsibility for it myself. The PRVs are not that expensive (Zurn-Wilkins 1 in. No Lead Brass Water Pressure Reducing Valve-1-NR3XL - The Home Depot), especially compared to replacing damaged fixtures or dealing with a burst pipe.

Home is actually at the top of the hill so the folks at the bottom must really be going through hoses. To date I have had the main water line rupture, a refrigerator water valve, 4 WC fill valves, one hose bib and a water heater fail. I attributed these failures to normal wear and tear or poor manufacturing but in hindsight it may have been the excessive water pressure. I assumed this was a simply matter of the utilities adjusting the pressure to our area but that is likely oversimplification. Looks like I will be spending some time and money to add a my own regulator.

 

[JimRB]

When I worked in residential construction every house on city or county water had a water pressure regulator. They are almost always just inside the house where the water line comes in. Or maybe out in the meter box so you do not blow out the water line that feeds the house.

 

[skipperbrown]

The big box hardware stores sell Watts pressure regulators for about $65. They are good quality. For $75, you should be able to buy the regulator and fittings to make it work. For $10 you can buy a gauge to set it to your desired pressure.

 

[STx]

Home is actually at the top of the hill so the folks at the bottom must really be going through hoses. To date I have had the main water line rupture, a refrigerator water valve, 4 WC fill valves, one hose bib and a water heater fail. I attributed these failures to normal wear and tear or poor manufacturing but in hindsight it may have been the excessive water pressure. I assumed this was a simply matter of the utilities adjusting the pressure to our area but that is likely oversimplification. Looks like I will be spending some time and money to add a my own regulator.

It's not a big job if you have some plumbing skills. Shouldn't take more than a couple of hours. I'd put it as close to the meter as you can to protect the service line and, as suggested by skipperbrown, add a pressure gauge just downstream of the PRV so you can set the desired pressure. 60PSI static (water isn't flwoing through the pipes) is about where I'd want it. By the time you figure your friction losses and elevation loss going up to a 2nd floor, that'll put you around 50ish dynamic (water is flowing through the pipes) which still gives a nice shower and is enough to run an irrigation system.

 

[JRobyn]

I strongly agree with just adding your own that YOU can control as you desire. Not too expensive and is REALLY cheap insurance considering the potential for damage.

I have about 80-90 psi out at the road where I tie to the county, but the house is 100 ft in elevation BELOW that, so I have 100-120 psi too. My main line is 2" slip-joint PVC that is the regular stuff that the county uses for mains, so I figure it can handle it (rated for maybe 250-300?). But I have a buried regulator in the valve box out where the yard line to the house ties in set at about 50-60 psi and a second one just inside the house set at about 40-45 psi. I sleep better, especially if I am away for a few days and forget to shut off the house main.

 

[Argonne]

I agree on installing your own reducer, but I would put it close to the house and put a bypass around it, and a tee in the feed from the county. The bypass would give you the option to cut the regulator out of the circuit in case it breaks or if things change and it becomes undesirable. The tee would give you the option of using the high pressure source in the future if some need develops that could benefit from it. There are many times in my life when I could only dream of 100+ psi water pressure on tap.

 

[Pettrix]

So what is IDEAL pressure?

Is it 60psi?

Anything above 100 psi would scare me since it could blow out some connections, especially plastic ones.

I have a VFD so I set the water pressure at 65 psi. The controller allows me to go as high as 120 psi but I would never do that.

 

[ray66v]

Even at 60 psi, you can have issues with toilets running, and water heater pop off's dripping.

I usually set pressure reducing valves at 45 psi. But, you could try 50 or 60, to see if you have any problems.

I have two water towers a 1/2 mile behind me, and 45 psi is all rural water out here puts on their lines.

 

[Stimw]

I have a well and I use 45-55 pressure switches on my pumps and have GREAT pressure from a hose in the yard.
When I was RV-ing I used a regulator on the supply hose to the motor home (small brass fitting with hose in-out threads) because you never knew supply pressure at RV parks.

 

[coolreinfarm]

If you install a pressure regulator in the main water line make sure you install a expansion tank on your water heater, I think you said your on city water so a prv will act as a check valve an not allow expansion back to the mains. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Watts 3/4 in. Brass MPT x FTP Pressure Reducing Valve-3/4 LFN45BM1-U - The Home Depot

 

[Billrog]

Every town and every home I've lived in has had a pressure reducing valve. Rural homes on wells I've never seen any. My own water system now gravity fed is well over 100# so I have a reducing valve but I by passed the out side taps so the sprinklers will have good range. Can't remember for sure but think I have mine set at 65# never had a problem yet.

 

[ultrarunner]

We grew up with 160 to 180 psi in a area with hills.

Never noticed a problem until the new toilet was installed... the plastic fill valves exploded... the old solid brass ones were fine.

So after 25 years I installed a pressure regulator from the supply house... a good one that cost about $80 with discount.

Water set to 60 and planned a irrigation system...

A couple of months back water department did a neighborhood upgrade... installed a huge pressure reducer to 65 psi... so now my reducer is redundant.

By the way... installed mine in the basement for house only... outside was still the 160 to 180 and made it great for washing down the drive...

Now it is all 65 psi...

 

[gwstang]

When you do add the pressure regulator, go ahead and install a backflow prevention also. Cheap insurance for when and if a water line breaks out in the water system. Keeps your water line from draining. Hot water heater will burn up the elements without any in the tank. I had to add a new regulator on my line about 3 months ago. The old one gave out and busted the bottom out of it. It's not hard to do and the people at lowe's or hardware store will be able to help you. The backflow device is just a tube with a flap to keep water from flowing back out. Good luck. Oh, one thing you might do is ask the water crew if one of them would like to make a little money on a Saturday and take care of the problem for you.