So I JUST had my plumber replace the service feed to my house with a soft copper 1" dia. line, which was originally 3/4" dia. GSP from the street to the house (~35' as the line lays). I wish I had taken a picture of the old line that was removed, because I've seen clogged arteries on the surgery channel that looked better than that… I mean, you couldn't even shine a light through a short piece it was plugged/rusted up so badly! Amazing we had any pressure (edit: FLOW) at all…
Anyway, the meter at the street is also 3/4" dia. on either side (located inside a box, built into the sidewalk), and is being fed by a 1" dia. line running in either direction under the sidewalk. The point on entry into my house is still 3/4" dia. GSP, and I know most (if not all) of the fixtures inside the house are all fed by 1/2" dia. copper lines from the slab, but I don't really know what happens to the 3/4" feed after it enters the wall (i.e. does it go down below the slab or is it cast into the slab? how much further does it go before it splits up into 1/2" dia. copper runs? etc.) Oh, and the water heater is on the opposite side of the house in the garage too (great design – not!), so it always takes a while to get hot water in any of the faucets/showers. This was one of the mains reasons we did this project to begin with.
So to complicate matters a bit further, I added a Home Master 2-stage whole house filter as part of the line replacement (right at the entry point to the house), which has 1" ports one either side and two REALLY big 20" tall canister style filters. Apparently it has less than ~1psi pressure drop across the system according to the manufacturer (which I tend to believe), but I plan to eventually install some gauges and confirm.
Now it's only be 24hrs since the upgrade, but I have not noticed any significant/noticeable improvement in water pressure (or flow) using normal faucets and shower. The hot water still takes about the same time, which is unfortunate, and a sink + tub scenario still leads to a pressure drop in both fixtures. However, one of the garden hoses (opposite side of the entry point) seemed to have more pressure when I tested it last night, but the pressure dropped off after about 10 seconds or so which I'm guessing is because the new 1" feed is so short and only provides an initial boost in flow/pressure (right?)
So my question is: Even as badly clogged/corroded as the old 3/4" GSP line was, shouldn't I have seen a more substantial improvement in pressure and/or flow by upgrading to a NEW, much larger 1" dia. line? Or do the 1/2" lines inside the hose restrict flow/pressure and keep everything about the same? And does anyone think that the 3/4" meter at the street may be causing a restriction at all? Would replacing it with a 1" in/out version help any?
Sorry for the long rant and multiple questions, but I'm trying to see if there is anything else that we can do to help get a bit more pressure (aside from replacing all the pipes in the house, of course).
TIA!
Best Answer
Not if the downstream galv. pipe at the entry point to your home is in the same condition as the pipe you replaced.
Yes, but it is insignificant compared to the restricted galv. pipe downstream that you did not replace.
Yes, after you change out the restricted downstream pipe.
All filters restrict flow. BTW, install a bypass line around your filter unit so it will be easy to perform maintenance or remove it from service (when you get tired of maintaining it).
When you increase flow by removing the restriction (old galv. entry pipe) the hot water will arrive sooner.