my incoming water pressure(new house) is terrible during peak usage hours..with both parents working regular jobs and 2 hi-school aged kids, there is no avoiding needing showers/baths in that time period..my water utility says "they've received no other complaints" in my area...also with hundreds more homes and businesses on the way in the next few years, it aint gonna get better w/o major investment by the water purveyor.

as an engineer with plumbing experience, it is my belief that i can resolve the problem myself by adding a sizable water storage tank with a relatively small pump set at 40-60 psi, or so..

any advice or comments before i attempt to correct the problem? it would be easy to do so prior to my water heater, is that advisable? any comments would be appreciated.

Most plumbing supply companies will be able to set you up with a pressure booster pump, feeding a storage tank with a diaphragm, which will be able to absorb pressure variations while keeping delivery pressure somewhat constant. You may be required to install a check valve, to prevent the boosted pressure from back-feeding the line coming into your house, and you will want a pressure gage to monitor what is, or is not, happening with your water delivery pressure.

What you describe is common to homes which are located at or near where the water company's storage towers are located, which is to say, at the top of hills. Homes at the bottom of the hill will benefit from the higher head pressure feeding them from the storage tank at the top of the hill, whereas those without the head pressure will suffer what you have described.

Before making the investment, it might pay you to poll your neighbors regarding their experience(s). It may very well be that they have learned to live with an undesirable situation, since they may assume that nothing else can be done, and, in fact, you may really be the only one who has raised the issue, or not. However, since water companies are public utilities, they are regulated by the state in which you live, and must provide a minimum level of usable product, at a reasonable delivery pressure, for the product to be usable. If there are fire hydrants in the area, you might also poll the fire district in which you live, since low or erratic water delivery pressure represents a potential life-safety issue. If enough people make enough noise, especially the fire department, then as is inevitably the case with political situations, the squeaky wheel will get the grease.

Just want to ask JackOrange a question.
I have a water pressure problem too but from my well. I posted it under Mechanical. Is that the right place for it? It didn't show up where yours is...
Thanks,

Jack,
I'm an Architect in a small town in the Missouri Ozarks and I found myself with the same problem. For some reason known only to God the City allowed an expansion of my 30 yr old housing addition with out increasing the water supply. This created an unusual situation. I had something over 40 psi static water pressure but only about 12 psi residual pressure. That means when the water department comes out and puts a pressure gauge on your house it shows a low but acceptable pressure level. However as soon as you turn on a faucet or shower or Lord forbid both at the same time the pressure drops to a dribble. I solved the problem with a small pressure pump and storage tank. In fact, as soon as the storage tank was put on line it stabilized the pressure all by it's self except under a big demand. This system should work well for you. My total cost for the system, parts and labor was well under $1,000 so I thought it a bargain.

A number of years ago when I first bought my house, I put in an UG sprinkler system, but found that - even though my static pressure was 45 psi (+/-) when I turned the sprinkler system on, it dropped to 12 psi. What was eventually revealed was that my meter was only a 5/8" meter. A huge pressure drop across the meter at any real flow. Some years later, they have upgraded the water system and my static is now around 55 psi. Although at still a low psi during watering, it was acceptable. HOWEVER, after 30+ years in the house, my old galvanized piping system has developed rust/scale inside and my pipes are all effectively a size or two smaller - this is now affecting my pressure inside the house. So, you should look at the age of your plumbing AND check with the utility on the size of your water meter. You can have it upsized - for more ** of course, but it may be cheaper than a hydrostatic tank and booster pump. One other thing the utility found in their investigations was that the "corporation stop" in the street was only about half open. I've got a patch in the pavement our front to show where they fixed that.

Our house has this problem. Our whole street has low pressure, and the water company explains it's because we're at "the top" of the supply lines. I think our house is the last on this line. They will do nothing about it.

I just found a company that sells pumps that do not require a storage tank, and I'm going to look into having one installed. They aren't cheap, but it would be lovely to have more than 30 psi. If I run the washing machine, the bathroom gets air instead of water.

you do not want a pressure pump that does not have a tank. This is fine for spinkler systems that are on for long periods of time. But with a house system the pump will turn on and off everytime someone turns on a faucet. This will burn out the pump fast. Put in a tank so the pressure can be better controled.

you need at least an expansion tank if not a storage tank. That will provide a cushion to absorb "water hammer". When you shut off a faucet under higher pressure the water basically "stacks up" in the pipe. Water does not compress and the lag time to shut off the pump means that a non-flowing slug of water will build up inside the pipe for the instant that it takes for the pump to shut off. By then you will have pipes banging and the pump trying to pump against the "no flow" condition. It will not be long before something is broken. The tank allows a place for that instant surge of pressure to dissipate.

Since I posted, I've talked to the people who sell the system, and they told me that I would need a storage tank. They suggested an inexpensive hot water heater -- not to plug in to heat water, but just to serve as a storage tank. Apparently, it's cheaper that way! A 40 gallon glass-lined tank.

Do you think that would do the trick?

Now I am trying to find a plumber willing to put in the valves to set this up. So far, I haven't gotten a call back. *sigh* Construction season has begun.

No It will not last. Get the proper tank to do the job. A pressue tank is not as expensive as you would think.

I had the impression that the tank wouldn't be pressurized, that it would just hold 40 gallons of water. We get 3.5 gallons per minute at about 32 psi from the city supply. So if we pump it through at higher pressure, the only way we can get more volume is by having storage that can be refilled when we are not drawing water. But perhaps it wouldn't work unless it is pressurized.

The goal is to be able to turn on a faucet, flush a toilet, start the washer, take a shower (choose two) at the same time, which we can't do at present.

If the folks selling the pump system are giving me bad information, then I need to pursue other suppliers I think. I still have the problem of finding an installer.

You simply need a well tank with a jet pump.
Look up well drillers or plumbers in your area and they should be able to supply the parts and install them for you.

Thanks. So far, I've just tried plumbers and not gotten any response. My plumber of many years retired, and the last plumber I called charged me $1108 to install a bathroom sink. I thought for sure it would be gold-plated for that. So I've been looking for a "budget plumber." ;-)

wow I never thought the water pressure could be a municipal problem, I'm siffering from that right now on a sink we installed on the porch that for some unbeknownst reason has trickled to an annoying stop

thanks Mr. Parker

Fishfool @ The Reef Tank