Low water pressure in duplex

[Katherine Roberts]

Hi, 

We are about to close on a duplex. We had more inspections done and we noticed the water pressure is super light when multiple things are running. All the piping has been replaced. This seems like a big deal to me because the water was barely coming out of the shower head when two other faucets were running. I feel like that is something that tenants would definitely complain about. Is there an easy fix to this? 

[Glen Wiley]

I owned an older home that had this issue, it ended up being the line from the water meter to the home. Due to the digging involved we spent $8,000 to have that line replaced (about 4 years ago in Lynchburg, Va). I recommend that you include a concession from the seller.

[Matthew Paul]

There may be a pressure regulator at or near the main shut off , it could be turned down too low , or the screen could be clogged . 

You can also call the water dept to do a pressure and flow test . 

If its a low pressure situation from the city , install a booster pump 

[Katherine Roberts]

Quote from @Glen Wiley:

I owned an older home that had this issue, it ended up being the line from the water meter to the home. Due to the digging involved we spent $8,000 to have that line replaced (about 4 years ago in Lynchburg, Va). I recommend that you include a concession from the seller.

 They just redid all the piping so I don’t think they would agree to that unfortunately

[Katherine Roberts]

Quote from @Matthew Paul:

There may be a pressure regulator at or near the main shut off , it could be turned down too low , or the screen could be clogged . 

You can also call the water dept to do a pressure and flow test . 

If its a low pressure situation from the city , install a booster pump 

 Thank you for this information! I sent it to my realtor and hopefully they can get it figured out before we close.

[Colleen F.]

@Katherine Roberts assuming city water, it could be the line to your house.  We had a personal home like this and installed a booster pump assuming it was the long run  to the house and we didn't see any issues in the water bill.  A few years later it went way down and we had the line replaced. The booster pump blew out and sprayed water all over the basement as soon as we reconnected to the main, not sure why we didn't have issues with the water bill, guess it was before the meter.  Ask your neighbors too because if it is the city line everyone on the street would have an issue.  

[Vladan Nesovic]

plumbers messed up...This is called Bernoulli effect and it means somewhere they connected a smaller pipe onto a larger one. Long story short however you decide to fix this (have city add larger meter and you add larger pipes thruout or you just do your property side) you are looking at very expensive fixing....

[Pat L.]

had it in an older building & found the old back flow valve heavily corroded. 

I also would test the incoming psi at an immediate take off after the meter (before the pressure regulator ifnthere is one) to confirm incoming pressure.