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Old 07-23-2021, 12:08 AM   #1
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Neighbor turns on water and we don't get any

Been at this site for almost a week, the quad lot where I'm at is serviced by a single water source that has 4 water outlets, with supposedly very high pressure, 3 of us are connected over the past week no issues. Apparently I'm the only one with a water pressure regulator at 40PSI.

A new neighbor pulled in and all of a sudden the we get no water. I went outside to see and looks like the new neighbor plugged his hose in and when turned on my water pressure goes to zero. I asked him if he had a water pressure regulator and he said no. The only solution it seems was for him to partially turn his faucet on with relatively weak water pressure, and even with that weak pressure to his hose, mine drops to 20PSI and I can see the reduced pressure in my faucets but at least we all have some water.

Any idea what's happening here?
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Old 07-23-2021, 07:31 AM   #2
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Yes. Water will follow path of least resistance. You are providing resistance with your regulator. Just for this trip, I wouldn't use it. Unless pressure is so high it might damage your trailer, but it sounds like the opposite case applies.
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Old 07-23-2021, 08:01 AM   #3
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Once the users systems are pressurized, unless water is running all the time through one of the ganged faucets, you should have water until one of the other users open a faucet or flushes.

Do you know what the static pressure at the ganged faucets is? You can crank your regulator up until the pressure quits rising and that'll be the static pressure. Of course all the other users will have to not be using any water when testing.

As for the problem, the ganged faucets are probably fed by a very small line and maybe at low pressure.
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Old 07-23-2021, 08:33 AM   #4
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As Kris mentioned, water will follow the path of least resistance.

What is the pressure with no one using water? You mentioned you believe it is very high but what is it really? If it is high, you'll need to keep your regulator on to protect your system when no one is using water.

If it really isn't that high, you can remove your regulator which will allow your resistance to be the same as others. You may still not have lots of water but you'll have as much as the others.

The other thing you can do in low pressure applications is put some water in your fresh tank and turn on the pump to supplement the pressure. We often do this at fairgrounds, festivals and rallies where 10 or more folks are connected to a single hydrant.
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Old 07-23-2021, 09:10 AM   #5
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Are the valves connected together such that turning #4 on turns off yours? Otherwise what you are describing shouldn’t happen. Unless…. Can you tell if water is flowing through their lines constantly like they have a faucet open (or a broken pipe)?
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Old 07-23-2021, 09:35 AM   #6
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I was going to suggest 5picker's solution. Just fill up the fresh water tank and turn your water pump on.
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Old 07-23-2021, 09:43 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by Daxinarian View Post
Are the valves connected together such that turning #4 on turns off yours? Otherwise what you are describing shouldn’t happen. Unless…. Can you tell if water is flowing through their lines constantly like they have a faucet open (or a broken pipe)?
Sure it will.

Think about it... a 1" supply hydrant/hose with ONE person connected to it, delivers ALL the water in that 1" line to your R/V.

Now... connect 4 separate R/Vs to that 1" hose and turn them all on... each person only gets 1/4 of the water available in that 1" supply line.

That's in a perfect world.

Add in the OP has a restriction (regulator) and maybe a longer hose, a couple elbows or quick connections (added flow resistance) and now they don't even get 1/4 of the flow. Absolutely normal under those conditions.
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Old 07-23-2021, 10:23 AM   #8
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Sure it will.

Think about it... a 1" supply hydrant/hose with ONE person connected to it, delivers ALL the water in that 1" line to your R/V.

Now... connect 4 separate R/Vs to that 1" hose and turn them all on... each person only gets 1/4 of the water available in that 1" supply line.

That's in a perfect world.

Add in the OP has a restriction (regulator) and maybe a longer hose, a couple elbows or quick connections (added flow resistance) and now they don't even get 1/4 of the flow. Absolutely normal under those conditions.


Just because those other 4 are connected doesn’t mean that they are all using water at the same time. If what you are describing was occurring then the OP would experience nothing out of the ordinary most of the time, but would have issues when water is flowing (not just connected) at multiple other campers. Unless I misread things, the OP has a constant problem if the spigot is turned on, regardless of whether or not camper #4 has a faucet open.
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Old 07-23-2021, 10:30 AM   #9
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Neighbor turns on water and we don't get any

To say it another way. It doesn’t matter how short or long, wide/narrow of a hose, presence or absence of a regulator, elbows, etc… if your neighbor is not flowing water they can’t affect the pressure in your camper. If there is only one open path (1 open faucet) it is the path of least resistance since all other closed paths are infinite resistance.
If opening a valve changes the pressure on a neighboring path water must be flowing through the newly opened valve.
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Old 07-23-2021, 11:41 AM   #10
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Static water pressure remains unchanged until someone is using water which should only be a tiny fraction of the time. If all four hoses are running with the same length and diameter of hose they should all get 25% pressure and flow. Some Swiss guy with an Italian sounding name defined this a couple hundred years ago.

The effect is real. I thought there was something wrong with my home washing machine as it refused to fill with water at random times. Turned out to be a lack of water pressure after a electrical contractor had severed my backyard irrigation pipe and full pressure water was running underground. Noticed a large unexplained wet area of the lawn. Only happened with the sprinkler schedule matched the washing machine use. (Contractor denied his guys serered this pipe but the shovel cut was right under the electrical line he'd run to my shed. He patched the pipe it with duct tape -- ain't using this guy ever again.)

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Old 07-23-2021, 01:26 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by ciditad View Post
Been at this site for almost a week, the quad lot where I'm at is serviced by a single water source that has 4 water outlets, with supposedly very high pressure, 3 of us are connected over the past week no issues. Apparently I'm the only one with a water pressure regulator at 40PSI.

A new neighbor pulled in and all of a sudden the we get no water. I went outside to see and looks like the new neighbor plugged his hose in and when turned on my water pressure goes to zero. I asked him if he had a water pressure regulator and he said no. The only solution it seems was for him to partially turn his faucet on with relatively weak water pressure, and even with that weak pressure to his hose, mine drops to 20PSI and I can see the reduced pressure in my faucets but at least we all have some water.

Any idea what's happening here?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daxinarian View Post
Just because those other 4 are connected doesn’t mean that they are all using water at the same time. If what you are describing was occurring then the OP would experience nothing out of the ordinary most of the time, but would have issues when water is flowing (not just connected) at multiple other campers. Unless I misread things, the OP has a constant problem if the spigot is turned on, regardless of whether or not camper #4 has a faucet open.
Maybe I'm misreading what the OP wrote?
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Old 07-23-2021, 01:48 PM   #12
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I would fill my fresh water tank and use the on board water pump to supply volume and pressure…. You can still be hooked up to shore water.
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Old 07-23-2021, 02:16 PM   #13
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Yup, that's what I would do..
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Old 07-23-2021, 02:28 PM   #14
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System pressure is unaffected unless one of the other outlets is flowing, not just connected. That means water coming out somewhere.

If mere connection was all that was needed to drop the pressure none of the faucets in your house would work because of all the others connected to the system. The principle is not that hard.

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Old 07-23-2021, 03:20 PM   #15
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Just a theory, but have you checked the flow at the camp supply without your hose connected. I would expect some pressure loss with more campers connected. Could it be that there was enough pressure before to overcome a half plugged inlet screen or water filter on your unit. I'm onboard with the fresh water tank idea if this is not the case.
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Old 07-23-2021, 03:54 PM   #16
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Since that guy apparently doesn't use a pressure regulator, maybe somewhere along the way he blew out a hose/connection and water is either filling up some space inside his unit or is pouring out underneath his camper (or both), which would explain why there is such a precipitous pressure drop.

See if a new waterway has established itself running away from his camper.

Just trying to cover all bases...
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Old 07-25-2021, 07:48 PM   #17
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In case you were wondering, this is what the water supply looked like.
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Old 07-25-2021, 07:52 PM   #18
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In case you were wondering, this is what the water supply looked like.
Wow. WTH? Reminds me of some of the jerry-rigged cable TV splitters that people used to steal cable from their neighbors with when I worked for the cable company.

ciditad - just fill up your fresh water tank when you get the chance, and turn your water pump on.
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Old 07-25-2021, 07:57 PM   #19
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You can't catch a break man! People stealing your stuff, depriving you of water...
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Old 07-25-2021, 07:59 PM   #20
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Pull the filter and all that other stuff off an try it
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