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.