water pressure gauge
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Help
Forum Name: General Help
Forum Description: The place to ask about pest, problems, hitchhikers, etc.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=76871
Printed Date: May 17 2025 at 11:01am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: water pressure gauge
Posted By: Reefboy4life
Subject: water pressure gauge
Date Posted: July 20 2015 at 2:59pm
|
i am wanting to check my water pressure before i purchase an RO unit, before i purchase a water pressure gauge i am wondering if anyone has one near layton i could borrow i would greatly appreciate it. ------------- 90 gallon mixed reef |
Replies:
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: July 20 2015 at 8:10pm
|
The city usually knows pretty close to what the pressure is in your neighborhood and will tell you, but if the home has a pressure reducing valve, that may need to be relieved a bit to get something over 40 psi and preferably closer to 60 psi for the RO Unit. It's rare for city water to be below ~50 psi. Many are closer to 80. Aloha, Mark  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
|
Posted By: Reefboy4life
Date Posted: July 20 2015 at 11:06pm
|
Ok so do you think I will be fine not checking and hooking up the RO unit? ------------- 90 gallon mixed reef |
Posted By: Schmidty
Date Posted: July 21 2015 at 6:39am
| Where in Layton do you live? I used to work for Layton city water dept |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: July 21 2015 at 6:51am
|
Well, that's kinda what I meant, but I do think it would be good to know the water pressure, if only by asking your city what the pressure is for your neighborhood/city and checking to see if your home has a pressure reduction valve that would be keeping pressure lower than 50-60 psi. I see that, like most of us, you may become overly concerned with water pressure, as well as with the absolute purity of the water. In other words, just because there is the ability to make ultra pure water, with higher water pressure and with the use of De-ionizing resin, does not mean that ultra pure water is necessary for a reef aquarium. Think about it. We purify the water, removing things like Calcium, Magnesium, Carbonates(Alkalinity), etc. and then we add all those things back in with the salt mix.  Many people use ordinary tap water and have wonderful reef aquariums. Aloha, Mark ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
|
Posted By: Fatman
Date Posted: July 21 2015 at 7:17am
|
I have a couple and am just off the hill in South Weber. PM me for my phone number, I home all the time, since I work out of the house. |
Posted By: Marcoss
Date Posted: July 21 2015 at 8:08am
|
In Saratoga Springs, at least according to a person on the phone and their website, they only hit a 40PSI per day max for homes for culinary water. I am not sure about irrigation on the other hand. They have reduced it down for water conservation. I do know that my RODI drips at home compared to its other location due to it not going above 40PSI. Like Mark is saying though, there might be some restrictor inside my house that I just don't want to tinker around with. ------------- RedSea Max S400 - 90G Rimless Frag Tanks x2 - 185 Lookdown Bin |
Posted By: Reefboy4life
Date Posted: July 21 2015 at 2:03pm
|
I live just east of the Layton hills mall, thanks Fatman pm sent ------------- 90 gallon mixed reef |
Posted By: Schmidty
Date Posted: July 21 2015 at 2:35pm
| Your house should have roughly 50-60 psi most of Layton falls between those ranges unless you live in West Layton then you could have 100+ psi depending where in West Layton. |
Posted By: Marcoss
Date Posted: July 21 2015 at 3:20pm
|
Hey Schmidty, Do you think Saratoga Springs could be as low as I was told? The PSIs up North are twice as high. I feel like I am getting screwed. Ha ha. Marcos ------------- RedSea Max S400 - 90G Rimless Frag Tanks x2 - 185 Lookdown Bin |
Posted By: Reefboy4life
Date Posted: July 21 2015 at 3:43pm
|
so if it is as low as 50 psi will the RO unit be able to work properly in that range? ------------- 90 gallon mixed reef |
Posted By: Krazie4Acans
Date Posted: July 21 2015 at 3:46pm
|
It will just produce less water and the membrane won't be quite as efficient. It will still work. If you are worried at all just get the booster pump and remove any chance of issue. ------------- My ocean. 90g (yup, won it!), 40g, 28g, & 10g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water http://utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=63568&title=krazies-nano-paradise" rel="nofollow - Tank Thread: |
Posted By: Reefboy4life
Date Posted: July 21 2015 at 4:18pm
|
i think i will just roll with it thanks for the info guys ------------- 90 gallon mixed reef |
Posted By: Schmidty
Date Posted: July 21 2015 at 5:12pm
|
@ marcoss this is the state regulation (1) Unless otherwise specifically approved by the Director, no water supplier shall allow any connection to the water system where the dynamic water pressure at the point of connection will fall below 20 psi during the normal operation of the water system. Water systems approved prior to January 1, 2007, are required to maintain the above minimum dynamic water pressure at all locations within their distribution system. Existing public drinking water systems, approved prior to January 1, 2007, which expand their service into new areas or supply new subdivisions shall meet the minimum dynamic water pressure requirements in R309-105-9(2) at any point of connection in the new service areas or new subdivisions. (2) Unless otherwise specifically approved by the Director, new public drinking water systems constructed after January 1, 2007 shall be designed and shall meet the following minimum water pressures at points of connection: (a) 20 psi during conditions of fire flow and fire demand experienced during peak day demand; (b) 30 psi during peak instantaneous demand; and (c) 40 psi during peak day demand. So they could be maintaining the 40 PSI minimum to conserve water but I would think that would cause a lot of complaints in neighborhoods with no secondary water for sprinklers. |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: July 21 2015 at 5:44pm
Aloha, Mark ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
|
Marcoss wrote:Posted By: Schmidty
Date Posted: July 21 2015 at 5:51pm
|
Well it can't hurt anything if your pressure is already low. If your pressure is 80 before and you go mess with the pressure reducer in your crawl space you might have a water heater that will start spraying out the safety pressure valve. I would also include that if you are going to mess with the pressure reducer in your home to remove the screen on the faucet. When you adjust it it might release some debris that could clog the faucet. |
Posted By: Fatman
Date Posted: July 21 2015 at 6:47pm
|
Well, on the pressure reducer... Before you play with it you might want to make sure that the pressure at the curb is higher than the pressure generated after the pressure reducer. No sense messing with it if it's not going to benefit you. Messing around with the pressure regulator is not complicated, but you run the risk of puncturing the diaphragm. Then it's about an $80 fix and a lot of frustration. Fat |
Posted By: millsu2
Date Posted: July 22 2015 at 2:50pm
|
I don't think you need to worry about the pressure. An RO unit will still work and although the TDS might be slightly higher I don't think that is a problem. You can always use DI resins to reduce that to near 0 if you want. I ended up buying a booster pump mostly just to help speed things up. It was taking a long time to fill my containers and the TDS was 15-20. I bought the booster pump and now the TDS is 6 or less and my containers fill at least 3 times faster.
As a side note, my parents live a block away and they have much higher pressure. Their culinary water pressure is at 80 PSI, but it will still go higher if they adjust the regulator. Their pressurized irrigation is at 115 PSI.
|
Posted By: Schmidty
Date Posted: July 22 2015 at 3:51pm
| Millsu you could call your city's public works department and ask the to test the pressure at the hydrant closest to you. That would give you a pretty close guess unless you live on a steep hill where the closest hydrant is far above you or far below you. |
Posted By: millsu2
Date Posted: July 22 2015 at 4:05pm
| There happens to be a hydrant at the corner of my property. I might try that, although I have a feeling they won't want to take the time since technically there aren't any problems. |
Posted By: Marcoss
Date Posted: July 23 2015 at 8:18am
|
Wow, tons of info. I found the part everyone mentioned in my basement; it leads into the home and has a little seal/tag on it stating its max is 40PSI. I'm sure thats more of a suggestion or at least I would hope. Since I am moving my tank out anyway, I won't mess with it but for future needs I will. Thanks. ------------- RedSea Max S400 - 90G Rimless Frag Tanks x2 - 185 Lookdown Bin |
Posted By: 1stupidpunk
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 2:25am
|
A simple way to determine if your house has lower water pressure is to turn on the dishwasher, or washing machine... then go turn on your bath to full blast. If you bathtub faucet has noticeably less flow then you have low pressure. |
Posted By: Reefboy4life
Date Posted: July 24 2015 at 3:09am
|
Yeah there is always that one person who wants to do wash as soon as I get in the shower, definitely got lower water pressure then ------------- 90 gallon mixed reef |