Usually, low water pressures in your home aren’t related to the City’s water system. So, when you’re experiencing a decrease in water pressure at your property, the issue is typically within your plumbing system. Leaks in a house’s water pipes will cause the water pressure to drop, leading to other problems with the plumbing.
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If you have low water pressure in your home, please inspect your water system before calling the City for assistance.
What are the effects of leaks?
A water leak will reduce the amount of water in the pipes, dropping the water pressure. Of course, it is a relation between size of the leak and water pressure. However, even small leaks will reduce water pressure. In case of multiple smaller leaks, the water pressure will drop dramatically.
To restore your plumbing’s previous water pressure it’s necessary to find and fix the leaks.
Check your water meter
The most of residential water meters are located in the front sidewalk. The first step is to check your water meter for movement.
Look at the top of the meter. You’ll notice a triangle called a flow indicator. The red triangle (flow indicator) will move whenever water is passing through it. If your meter doesn’t have a flow indicator, you can use the sweep hand on the register to indicate water loss.
You can use a trick with the water meter to see if a leak in your plumbing exists.
Turn off all of the faucets in your house and shut off the automatic sprinklers. Write down the number on the water meter outside of your house and leave for at least two house. When you come back, note the number on the water meter. If the number is higher than when you left, your water pipes are leaking.
How to Bleed air from the House water Pipes (howtobuildahouseblog.com)
Check all valves
Check that all valves on your water supply are wide open. This includes the valve where the water service enters the house as well as the curb stop valve at the property line. These shut off valves are actually supposed to be open all the way.
Check your toilets
One of the most common causes of leaks is toilets. They are very easy to fix. Usually, replacing worn rubber toilet flappers usually corrects the problem.
To test for a toilet leak, place a drop of food coloring in the toilet tank. If the color shows up in the bowl within 5 minutes without flushing, you have a leak.
Check your irrigation system
Shut off the anti-siphon valve that serves your sprinkler system. Check the red flow-indicator triangle at the water meter. If the flow indicator stopped moving, the sprinkler system is the problem.
Check your water softener, swamp coolers, water cooler air conditioners, and ice machines
Most softeners have a bypass lever. Turn the lever to allow water to bypass the softener. Check the red flow-indicator triangle at the meter. If the triangle is no longer moving, you have isolated the leak to your softener. Do the same with swamp coolers, water cooler air conditioners, and ice machines.
Check your swimming pool
First turn off the automatic fill valve and place a bucket on a step where the bucket rim is at least a few inches above the water line.
Then place a heavy weight in the bucket and add water until the water level inside the bucket is equal with the water level in the pool.
Leave the bucket and pool undisturbed for several hot days, and then compare the water level in the bucket to the water level in the pool. If the water level in the bucket is noticeably higher than the water level in the pool, you may be losing water to a leak.
Finding the source of leak
Once you have determined that at least one water leak is causing the low water pressure in your house, you must locate the water leak.
Look for obvious signs of water leaks, such as a wet spots on ceilings or on walls. Don’t forget: Leaking water in a house will cause a floor to become spongy and bow as the water damages the house’s structure, including the floor joists. Water leaks will also promote the growth of mold or mildew.
However, just because you see an area of water damage does not necessarily mean the leak sits directly above.
You must track down the source of the leak, to find the leaking water pipe.
Conclusion
A leak certainly will cause water pressure reduction and you might also notice your water bill has increased.
If there is a water pressure issue then you make sure not to ignore it. A lot of people simply do nothing and then they have complete blockage or worse they have a flood in their home.
For the moment a reduced water pressure is not an emergency but it could be the sign of a larger problem.
