Originally Posted By: egriffin
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I know that above 80 psi is generally a concern on the high side, but at what point would you consider water pressure to be too low and why?
I know that above 80 psi is generally a concern on the high side, but at what point would you consider water pressure to be too low and why?
Originally Posted By: lschmid
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Check with local codes. Here in SC the low allowed at a house is 25 psi. DHEC will allow this, but it is not enough for a good shower. I would recommend further evaluation if it was this low.
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Larry Schmid
First Choice Home Inspection,Inc.
South Carolina Chapter President
www.1stchoicehomeinspection.com
A SAFE HOME IS A HAPPY HOME
Originally Posted By: rray
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25 psi is good enough for a good shower if you have the right shower head.
We did an inspection in the mountains a while back, and the water pressure from the well was 18 psi. Client was concerned about flow at shower head.
We went inside, restarted the dishwasher, went and turned the really, really nice shower head on, and flushed the toilet. No problem whatsoever.
As I often tell my Clients when the pressure is too high, lower it as low as possible. The way to do this is to station a plumber at the pressure regulator (two-way walky talky might be nice here). Turn the dishwasher or washing machine on or run the water in one sink, and turn the shower on (this kind of replicates common usage in a family of three, all home at the same time with one taking a shower). Now flush the toilet. Keep doing that until the flow at the shower head is no longer to your satisfaction. Then raise it one notch. Consider a "notch" to be an increment of 5 psi or so. If you are not satisfied with the shower head flow at 80 psi, clean the shower head of any mineral deposits or buy a new shower head. Then do the same process again. Works like a charm in every house I've ever been in, and I've never, ever had leaky fixtures, pipes, etc. (such is not allowed in my household).
If your client has the seventh-grade gym showers, just recommend that they be replaced. You can't possibly get a good shower from those stupid things, yet they still sell them at Home Depot.
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Home inspections. . . .
One home at a time.
Originally Posted By: Richard A Baxter
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At what point would you consider water pressure to low? why?
Hard to answer straight out.Of course there are local codes in some areas with set standreds to go by.As stated above a shower ran good at 18psi most dont.The ones with water savers need more pressure to get a good flow.
When someone is in the shower and someone else flushes a toilet and you hear a scream from the one in the shower. Does this mean you have bad pressure? Maybe But as stated above you dont need much pressure to run a shower or toilet.
We all have check a house or two with old galv pipes and there was hardly any water coming out of the faucets. then put a gauge on to find the pressure 80psi or above.All of these things have to do with volume rarely do i find problems from low pressure. If i find a home with 40psi or higher and they are not getting enough flow to run All there fixture then they have a volume problem.
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Without plumbers the world would have more crap to deal with.