Interesting house water problem

[John T Smith]

Woke up to very low water flow from faucets... wife did a search, possible reason listed as a burst water pipe

Checked and couldn't find any problems in the house... wife called plumber, he said to check water meter

With a faucet in kitchen running the water meter dial was spinning... turn faucet off, dial was still

Water pressure problem not in our house... called utility company

About 10-15 minutes later a worker came to our door... they did not (yet) know the cause, but other people in the area were also reporting low pressure

My guess is a bad pump or a water main leaking... but, now that utility company knows I'm sure they will fix

So... if you ever have low water pressure the first thing to do is check your water meter... if the dial is spinning with all of your faucets OFF you have a water leak

[Peru Bob]

Check the aerators on your faucets.

I've done service calls for customers and all that was needed to be done was to clean or replace the aerators.

[John T Smith]

Nope... as I wrote "other people in the area were also reporting low pressure"

[Nancy OShea]

How cold is it there? 

Are exposed pipes insulated with pool noodles in case temps drop below freezing?

[John T Smith]

Problem is not with my pipes, it is a utility company problem that is causing low pressure in a large area

[Nancy OShea]

Yes.  But is it cold enough to burst pipes there?  Are your pipes well insulated?

[John T Smith]

3 hours later the problem is fixed by the utility company... now have regular water pressure

[PaintedKitty]

So, was it a broken water main in your area?

But its very good that you got your problem resolved. 🙂

[John T Smith]

I don't know the cause... the utility company website doesn't have a 'status' link, and they didn't call to tell us what they did... I verified that our pipes (all under the house, with foam plugs in the vents to keep wind out) are good, and water pressure is back, so I moved on to other things to do