How To Know If Your Water Pressure Is Too High For Your Water Heater
Is your water pressure to high for your water heater? There are many neighborhoods around Southern California, like in the Chula Vista area of San Diego County for example, where local water companies pump out city water to residents at such a high pressure that it can cause various types of plumbing problems before their customer is aware of them. An example of this came to us in the area between the CA-125 and Hunte Parkway, south of H Street in Chula Vista.
We received a call to replace a customer’s 50 gallon water heater because it was leaking. When we got there, they thanked us for arriving so quickly because the water heater, which fortunately was in the garage, had leaked onto the floor overnight and was getting boxes and things wet. The explained they had been using a portion of their garage as storage for their local business. Luckily the damage wasn’t too bad. Our technician quickly went to work to assess the issue and solve their problem.
After replacing their old 50 gallon water heater, we found water to be releasing from the temperature/pressure relief valve on the new tank due to the water pressure being so high. These temperature and pressure valves are rated to release water at 150 psi but we found the pressure to be much higher around 180 psi. This was at the hose bib directly above the pressure reducing valve at the front of the house (you would find the pressure to be similar no matter where on the house it was measured, as long as it was after the pressure reducing valve). The water pressure was too high, and this meant the pressure reducing valve would also need to be replaced.
Too High Of Water Pressure Can Cause Pressure Reducing Valves To Fail
The customer asked why their old water heater didn’t release water the way the new one was. We explained that the old T&P Valve was stuck shut. It had the rating of 150 psi, but wasn’t releasing because it probably hadn’t been opened manually on a regular basis to flush it clean. Along with periodic draining of the tank, this is a normal part of maintaining a water heater and most people either aren’t aware of it or they just haven’t done it.
The customer was a little surprised by what we had found, which was more than your basic water heater replacement. Over time, safety features on their home’s plumbing had failed and like many home owners, they were unaware. They were glad they had called a licensed plumbing contractor when they did because again, the water damage could have been far worse.
After replacing the water heater and the pressure reducing valve at the main water supply, we made sure the customer was educated to their satisfaction about what had happened and what to do about it in the future. They thanked us for our work and told us that even though it ended up costing more than they had planned, they were very happy we showed up right away to fix the problem before the damage had gotten worse.
Importance Of Regularly Maintaining Your Water Heater
Not only had we solved their leaky water heater concern, they also learned about the importance of regularly maintaining their water heater which made them feel more secure. They said they wouldn’t have known about the other issues until it was possibly too late and were glad they’d called our company, All Star Water Heaters Inc to solve their problem. We couldn’t have agreed more!
