Do Not Let Your Water Pressure Scare You

The usual suspects behind low pressure

• A failing pressure reducing valve (PRV) - they wear out after 10 to 15 years and can fail low or high
• A hidden leak, especially under the slab or in the service line between the meter and the house
• Mineral scale narrowing older galvanized pipes from the inside - common with Central Florida's hard water
• A main or fixture shutoff valve that is not fully open (it happens more than anyone admits)
• Municipal supply issues - if neighbors have the same problem at the same time, it is upstream of you

The numbers a plumber checks

Normal residential water pressure sits around 40 to 60 psi. Below 40, fixtures start to disappoint; above 80, plumbing code requires a pressure reducing valve because high pressure quietly destroys supply lines, water heaters, and appliance valves. A proper diagnosis starts with a gauge on a hose bib to read static pressure, then isolates whether the drop is house-wide or fixture-specific, and whether the meter keeps spinning with everything off - the classic signature of a hidden leak.

One useful distinction you can check yourself: if only the hot side is weak, the problem is usually sediment in the water heater or its shutoff valve, not the supply.