[freshjiv]

Hey, I am hoping someone can help me out. We have a house 30 years old, copper lines, and we are on community water (so similar to city water but just provided by Aqua for the housing development). We had our water pressure drop suddenly this past Thursday (about 4 days ago) and it has not returned. We have weak pressure in bathroom sinks, showers, waashing machine, and the kitchen sink. I went under the crawl, and there is no water leaks from the water heater to any supply lines that I can tell. Can anyone help me troubleshoot what could be wrong, and if so, what you think it will cost to get fixed if its something bigger (like a leak in a piple leading from water meter to house or something). THANKS SO MUCH!

Edit: also, we bought this house a year ago, and everything has been fine. I want to add that the previous homeowner had just put in a new 45 gallon lowboy water heater under the crawl for us, so the water heater is only a year old. Thanks.

[massplumber2008]

Hi Fresh

Seems to me that perhaps the supplier of your water may have done some work on water lines and that may have clogged the aerators (at spout ends on kitchen and lavatory faucets) and the strainer in the washing machine hose. Remove the aerators (unscrew clockwise and clear these of any debris) and the washing machine hoses and clear their strainers (check hose ends on both hoses).

Otherwise, you may have a pressure reducing valve with strainer in your water supply... look near the water meter. The pressure reducer usually has a union type fitting on horizontal and a thumb screw on top. These get clogged once inawhile. Shut water supply and remove strainer on bottom and clear and flush water pipe...

But get back to me... I will try to find you a pic. Of pressure reducer while you remove the aerators and see if flow is restored... ok?

[massplumber2008]

Here is a pic. Of the pressure reducer.. or similar type device. The strainer is in bottom. If you have this let me know and I will instruct on how to clear/clean.. ok?

[freshjiv]

^thanks for letting me know. I will check it out first thing in the morning. So why would it have caused all the pressure to go down in all water areas (even the showers). How would I get the shower pressure back up to snuff as well?

[massplumber2008]

If water was worked on, sediment that collects along bottom of pipes gets disturbed when shutting/purging, etc. The result is that some residents get sediment that clogs pipes... by the way, for shower would remove shower head and clear of debris and then re-install using pipe dope or teflon tape on threads of shower arm(sold at any home improvement store).

If strainer (as in last picture), again, sediment can clog strainer.. could be city/town/aqua related... or could just be getting old.. See if present and get back to me.

Also could call suppliers of water and see if any work/flushing of mains has been performed... let them know of reduced presseure.. see what they say.

Let me know what you find.

[freshjiv]

Ok, thanks. Also, the water is spitting TERRIBLy out of all faucets (sink, washing machine, showers), especially with the hot, but it is spitting pretty significantly, and not just at the begiinning, but throughout the water beign turned on. How would this relate to the weak pressure?

[massplumber2008]

Are your neighbors having similar issues.. And Did you check the aerators.. Do you have a pressure reducer with strainer.. Answer these questions then I can answer your last question. Thank you

[freshjiv]

Hey massplumber2008, I just got off the phone with our water supplier and they said there was a main break in one of the water pipes for the community system, and it was just reported this morning, so maybe that's what it was from? Who knows how long it went before being reported. I hope this was it. They said other people in our community had called in to complain as well. Also, they said something about once its fixed, that rusty red water will come out for a while, and that to go run an outdoor spicket for about 5 minutes until it runs clear. Is that what you would recommend?

[massplumber2008]

Sure... not a bad idea to flush... but you also need to clear the aerators at the end of your faucets and maybe clear the strainer at the hoses of washing machine. That main break has probably allowed dirt/debris to enter water pipes and that will clog anything with a screen on it.

So clear/clean all as I described at my first post. Then may need to do it again once repair is finalized. That will help for sure.

I would also flush the water heater (if you have one)... here, after repair finished, hook hose onto drain at heater and with water ON, open drain to flush any sediment that may have settled on bottom of heater (10 miutes should do it)... it's what I would do.

IF this helped, please click on RATE THIS ANSWER. Thank you


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