Given the below freezing temperatures early this morning, my first thought was that a pipe had burst. I quickly got dressed and went outside to check the outdoor faucets thinking that I might have left a hose attached. But everything was OK outdoors - other than being extremely cold.
Searching indoors, I found a toilet that was not shutting off. I tried jiggling the lever with no luck. I then removed the lid from the tank and jiggled the float again with no luck. I decided to turn off the water to the toilet and deal with the problem later.
A short time later, I heard more running water. This time the noise was coming from the laundry room on the lower floor. Water was all over the floor and hot water was coming out of the pressure relief valve on the water heater. I tried jiggling the relief valve with no luck. I then manually opened the valve fully and closed it. The valve still leaked. With that failed attempt, I shut off the water to the hot water tank, called a plumber, and started cleaning up the water on the floor.
As my wife was leaving for work she commented that she thought the cold water pressure was higher than normal. I then found my water pressure gauge and screwed it on to the utility sink in the laundry room. I opened the cold water faucet and the gauge pegged at a pressure exceeding 100 psi!
Things were starting to make a little more sense. My thought now was that the toilet and hot water tank were probably OK and that the water pressure regulator had failed.
I called Sunday Creek Valley Water District to see if they were experiencing any pressure problems. The lady that answered the phone told me that they were having higher than normal pressure in the main lines and they were investigating.
By then the plumber arrived. He agreed that my pressure regulator had likely failed. He left briefly to get a new pressure regulator and then returned.
In fairly short order, he had removed the old pressure regulator and had installed the new one shown here:
With the new pressure regulator installed, the water pressure was 52 psi. Now this evening, I checked again and the pressure has dropped to 46 psi:
I'm guessing that the water company has reduced the pressure in the main water line - maybe even lower than normal.
2 comments:
I checked this evening. The pressure is back to 52 psi.
The pressure regulator reduces that pressure so damage and leaks do not occur within the home. All pressure regulators have some form of adjustment. In many cases, a slight turn of the main screw will make all the difference in the world.
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