I live in the village of Farmingdale and am suffering from horrible water flow (volume). My water meter is in the basement, and I've measured my pressure to the meter to be about 45-50 PSI (which i am told is ok, not great). However, when I put any load on the water supply (turn on a shower, flush a toilet, turn on an outside hose for the garden) I lose almost all the water flow to any other fixture. When measured with a valve at the point closest to the water meter, and under a load of about 20PSI, I am getting about 4.5 gallons per minute. My supply pipe from the curb to the house is 3/4 inch copper all the way. The house is a gut renovation new construction so the internal plumbing isn't the issue.

I have had the village water department replace my water meter to a "true 3/4" inch meter hoping this would increase flow, but to no avail.

The other issue is that I need to install an irrigation system. Based on my horrible water flow, I would need to have about 12-16 zones (I have a sizeable property). I have even been told by sprinkler companies that it isn't worth doing the install unless I can increase the water flow/volume.

Has anyone in the Village of Farmingdale (or anywhere else for that matter) had this issue? How was it solved? What did you do?

Any help is appreciated.

Could you post a photo of your water supply point of entry into the house and main house valve?

[www.constantpressure.com]

What comes to mind are:

1) a valve that is partially closed, or some other restriction. Once in a while the gate of a gate valve will break off.

2) under-sized water piping.

The first is more likely than the second.

I'll post a picture tonight.

Basically its a 3/4 inch copper pipe of about 3 feet, which goes to a ball valve, then a small pipe section, then goes into the meter, then another small pipe section, then goes into the main shutoff valve (ball) then goes to the rest of the house plumbing system. There's a tap about 3 feet from the main shutoff valve which feeds the outside hose bib.

Would the pump actually help? It seems this is more for pressure boosting, but as I stated, I don't suffer from pressure loss, as much as from volume loss. I fear that if i only am getting a low-flow then the pump is only going to be able to boost that amount of volume without any noticeable increase? am i wrong?

Time how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket at the sill cock. Then time it in the bath tub. Just because the plumbing is new, doesn't mean it was done correctly for low pressure.

I already timed this at both the outside water hose bib and second floor bathtub.

Hose bib - 55 seconds to fill 5 gallon

Upstairs bathtub 62 seconds to fill 5 gallon

Either way im averaging about 5 gallons per minute. On a 3/4 inch supply pipe with about 50PSI i think i should be getting at least 12-13 GPM. Correct me if i'm wrong.

There's only one way to maintain pressure in the system, with a faucet open. And that has to increase volume. Read all the information available on the pumps site.

It wouldn't hurt to double-check the gauge you're using, like with another gauge.