Repaired a break in the outside water line (PVC) and now no water pressure. Help?
The man who built this house in 1973 evidently ran the main line from the meter to the stub up under the house in schedule 40 3/4 PVC. We dug up the break and repaired it, but now we have virtually no water pressure in the house. We opened the faucet at the highest point in the house and that helped a bit, but the water will run moderately at any given point in the house for a minute or two and then slowly turn into a drizzle and then nothing. Any ideas before I have to call a plumber and pay him money that I need to pay my mortgage this month?
Cleaned out aerators and supply lines to toilets – helped but still not to original pressure before we fixed the break. Checking for other leaks. thanks
Tagged with: Leaks • Money • Mortgage
Filed under: Maintenance & Repairs
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Another leak or break in the line. Maybe debris in the line from your repair?
If you had pressure before, it is something to do with the repair. Check the main valve and turn it a few times to make sure it is on correctly. If you have an outside faucet open it and see what you get. Sounds like the water is not turned on correctly, or the pipe is obstructed.
Cass,
If I knew more I could help you but there are too many varibles. Sorry.
I do except email.
repairing the break, probably didn’t ensure that any and all rocks, sand, debris in the line got completely cleared, right?
if you shut off the house water supply at a main gate valve at the house, it may have not opened when you tried. It also may be stuck full of the junk stuck in the line when you opened the water pipe in the ground.
sometimes teh only way to clear it out is to disconnect and backflush the debris out at the meter.
that would mean connecting a hose from a neighbor’s house, oopeneing the connecting union at the meter, pushing the water back through and hoping you can get rid of all of what’s stopping the line up.
40 3/4 sounds right especially if it’s government built.i however am not a big supporter of the debree in line theory.i repaired alot of breaks like yours but,found that i merely only had to remove and clean the faucett aerators to get the flow back up to par.a few times i had to remove the supply lines at the faucetts and tiolet to clear but,never did i have to “flush”the entire system.