# Acceptable range of water pressure



## southernyankee (Feb 21, 2011)

What's an acceptable range for water pressure, measured at a spigot close to the regulator valve. House has pex tubing with community water. I am able to get the pressure close to 90 psi, but currently it's set to 45 - 50 psi.


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## griz (Nov 26, 2009)

45-50 should be good.:thumbsup:


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## southernyankee (Feb 21, 2011)

griz said:


> 45-50 should be good.:thumbsup:


That's what I was thinking.

Thanks.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

southernyankee said:


> That's what I was thinking.
> 
> Thanks.


I agree..... but I think generaally a residential range is 40 (low) to 70 (high).

I live in the mountains and our area's (because of elevation changes that increases water pressure by a little less than 1/2 lb per foot) gets a pretty big varience... I've seen it go out at 90PSI (too high requiring a PRV (pressure regulating valve).

Too high a pressure can cause problems with appliances, water hammer, and even promote leaks in weak plumbing.

Peter


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## UALocal1Plumber (Jun 19, 2009)

Codes around here say 8-80 psi is compliant.

Keith


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

UALocal1Plumber said:


> Codes around here say 8-80 psi is compliant.
> 
> Keith


What if all their runs were perfectly vertical?????


Really *8*-PSI??.... I wasn't aware of a code on WP... as it usually is supplied by a water system and beyond a HO control (except for a PRV or presuruzed/pump system.) 

But I've seen some stuff below 40PSI and normally around here the HO's are complaining.


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

You shouldnt have any issues with appliances upto about 110-120psi. the majority of them have zero issue handling that kind of pressure. I like my shower set to about 75psi but my pressures top out max about 90psi here. If your worried about fittings pressure test the system to 12bar to stress the system. If its ok at them pressures your good to go to about 6bar easy.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

BCConstruction said:


> You shouldnt have any issues with appliances upto about 110-120psi. the majority of them have zero issue handling that kind of pressure. I like my shower set to about 75psi but my pressures top out max about 90psi here. If your worried about fittings pressure test the system to 12bar to stress the system. If its ok at them pressures your good to go to about 6bar easy.


BC.... I don't really have any evidence or MRI's on it... but wow that seems alfully high to me... to have solonoid valves snappin shut at 120 PSI... water heaters without an expansion tank bleeding.... I'm limited geographically to my experience...mostly Colorado and Ca... but where do you see systems even supplying those pressures??


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

BCConstruction said:


> You shouldnt have any issues with appliances upto about 110-120psi.


The last water heater I installed had instructions from the manufacturer to use no more than 70 PSI.

3-4 years ago, a local water company decided to jack up their overall system pressure rather than install booster pumps to help with outlying areas. Some customers wound up with 90-110 PSI and sprang leaks all over the place.

The company lost all the class action suits it didn't settle out of court.


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## jkfox624 (Jun 20, 2009)

My pressure switch stuck on my well one day was running 115 through the house, it felt like the faucet was gonna blow off the sink.


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> BC.... I don't really have any evidence or MRI's on it... but wow that seems alfully high to me... to have solonoid valves snappin shut at 120 PSI... water heaters without an expansion tank bleeding.... I'm limited geographically to my experience...mostly Colorado and Ca... but where do you see systems even supplying those pressures??


I plumbing system should have zero issue handling 10-15bar i have pressure tested a few hundred at them pressures for over an hour and sometimes 24hrs to show up any problems. As long as the plumbing was correctly installed you should have zero issue. 

Water heater shouldnt be bleeding either if its installed correctly. If it has a check valve and no expansion tank then thats the problem right there. if it dont have a check valve then the pressure will back up through the incoming line and not increase anymore than the incoming pressure thats a great way to contaminate the fresh line with hot water so a check valve should be fitted.

I dont think i ever seen an appliance say it cant handle upto 120psi. i just pulled how a few books i have here with specs on appliances and some are as much as 125psi. Yeah they make a nice bang when shutting off but they can handle it. 

I used to install a lot of 5bar bath pumps in the UK because of the awful water pressures. think thats about 70psi and my pressure here is even more than that. i dont have a pressure reducer on the incoming line though. I like it powerful for washing things down with the outside hose and showers.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

BCConstruction said:


> I plumbing system should have zero issue handling 10-15bar i have pressure tested a few hundred at them pressures for over an hour and sometimes 24hrs to show up any problems. As long as the plumbing was correctly installed you should have zero issue.
> 
> Water heater shouldnt be bleeding either if its installed correctly. If it has a check valve and no expansion tank then thats the problem right there. if it dont have a check valve then the pressure will back up through the incoming line and not increase anymore than the incoming pressure thats a great way to contaminate the fresh line with hot water so a check valve should be fitted.
> 
> ...


BC... See you are online... thanks for your points.... AND not to go off thread, but my computer is not showing the "thank you " button this morning.

Does anyone know if this is the site, or have I "f-up" my computer

Thanks


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

I apologize, it was late and I misremembered by about 20 PSI. I don't remember the make of the heater I was referring to, but they wanted a max of 90 PSI. It was the first (and only) time I've ever needed to install a pressure reducing valve.

While I'll agree that most devices can handle 100+ PSI, there are plenty of other reasons to avoid that kind of pressure. Dissolved gases, aged valves, sweat joints and hoses, excessive water usage...


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## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> AND not to go off thread, but my computer is not showing the "thank you " button this morning.


You only get so many "Thanks" per day. If you haven't used up your allotment, most likely all you need is to do a refresh and the button will show up. It's there for me.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

Tinstaafl said:


> You only get so many "Thanks" per day. If you haven't used up your allotment, most likely all you need is to do a refresh and the button will show up. It's there for me.


Tin... THANK YOU... guess it must be on 24 hours or something... as I just got up...but I was on a long time yesterday


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## UALocal1Plumber (Jun 19, 2009)

I want to make something exceptionally clear - no domestic water system may have pressure in it exceeding 80 psi. You will break your fixtures, destroy your pipe, and it's just plain weird to use it.

The code says that a pressure reducing valve is required in such a case. Any other advice is blatantly ignorant of the facts.

Keith


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## webdesignskc (May 3, 2013)

Whenever I install a PRV I always crank it up to the max. The ones that I have left on the default 50 psi, the homeowner has always complained that there pressure wasn't high enough. 

Seems like I'm always fighting the ho on water pressure, I want it low and they want it high.


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## skyhook (Mar 17, 2007)

southernyankee said:


> What's an acceptable range for water pressure, measured at a spigot close to the regulator valve. House has pex tubing with community water. I am able to get the pressure close to 90 psi, but currently it's set to 45 - 50 psi.


It's not actually pressure, it's supply. Water is incompressible.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

skyhook said:


> It's not actually pressure, it's supply. Water is incompressible.


????????? Pressure is just force over a defined area (often a square inch especially in fluid dynamics like plumbing supply)

and supply is directly correlated to pressure (among other variables)


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## skyhook (Mar 17, 2007)

skyhook said:


> It's not actually pressure, it's supply. Water is incompressible.





MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> ?????????


Exhibit A




:thumbup:​


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 3, 2010)

skyhook said:


> Exhibit A
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sky..... Truthfully I don't understand. (it's over my head... no pun intended)

But if you're in our airforce, sincere thanks to ya.

Best

Peter


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