Water Pressure Check-Up

Let's dive into a key aspect of your home’s plumbing: water pressure. High or low pressure can affect everything from your shower experience to a burst water line going into an appliance.

High or excessive water pressure in your home is kind of like having high blood pressure in your body. It can cause irreversible damage and troubling symptoms if left untreated. We do hundreds of service calls annually for issues caused by high water pressure! Addressing the issue before it causes problems can save you thousands.

Besides high water pressure prematurely wearing out pipes and other components in a home, it can also cause a lot of wasted water to go into the sewer system. Anyone connected to a city sewer and water system not only pays for water usage, but they also pay for the waste that goes out through the sewer. Extra water pressure means extra waste charges! Literally money down the drain.

So we thought it would be helpful to go over common signs of high water pressure and how you can check out the water pressure in your home.

Symptoms of high or excessive pressure include:

• Faucets that drip, bang, or make noise

• Pipes that click, rattle, or make popping sounds

• Toilets that leak and fill on their own

• Washing machine hoses and pipes that can burst

• Water heaters that last about half their expected lifespan (approximately 15 years on average)

How to check your water pressure:

It's a simple thing to figure out on your own by procuring a gauge and testing yourself. As Benjamin Franklin once said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Check out the photo below of what a water pressure gauge looks like. This tool can be purchased at most home improvement stores.

Water pressure gauges screw to any faucet with hose threads. The most common place to test is a garden hose faucet outside of the house. Screw it on until snug, then turn on the faucet. It's important nothing else is on for an accurate reading. Per Oregon plumbing code any reading with an 80 Psi or higher is considered excessive and should be corrected as soon as possible.

If you test for high pressure or suspect it may be high, reach out to our team or call us at 503-719-4015. We can correct your pressure issue by installing or replacing the PRV (Pressure Reducing Valve) on the main water line servicing the home.