I have high or low water pressure
Our Customer Contract confirms that we will use our reasonable endeavours to ensure that the minimum pressure we provide for authorised standard connections is 200kPa at the connection point to the water main.
Do you have a water pressure issue?
This may be due to:
- problems with your property’s water service pipework plumbing (like an internal restriction/blockage within your pipework or a suspected leak)
- problems with Hunter Water infrastructure (like a burst or leaking water main)
- fire-fighting happening in your area or fire brigade testing hydrants
- Hunter Water maintenance activities (like hydrant flushing or flow testing)
- new water appliances being installed on your property
- your property may be in an area which experiences pressure issues due to its natural location (e.g. it is on a very high hill), which means pressure-booster equipment may be required.
If you have LOW water pressure, follow these steps to work out what the problem is and how to fix it.
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Step 1: Do the bucket test
You can do a simple bucket test to get an indication of possible low water pressure.
Here’s what to do:
- find the tap nearest to your water meter (this is usually the front outdoor tap)
- turn the tap on full and record the time it takes to fill a 10 litre bucket
- if it takes 30 seconds or longer to fill, your pressure may be low
There are several reasons why you may be experiencing low water pressure. Go to Step 2 to understand the possible reasons and what to do.
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Step 2: Find the cause and what to do
1. Search for planned or unplanned incidents in your area.
We might be carrying out planned works near you. If so, we always try to give residents notice of any work we’re doing in your area. Check to see if we have left a card in your letterbox.
Or we might be carrying our emergency unplanned work on the water mains in your area and it is not possible to give advance notice of these emergency works. Check our outages page to see if we have works happening near you.
If you can't see an outage in your area, please make the following checks:
2. Check the pressure at all your cold water taps, both inside and outside.
If low pressure isn’t occurring at every tap, then you may have an internal plumbing issue. If it is only occurring at particular taps, check those tap filters are clean and ensure installed devices aren’t clogged. If this doesn’t resolve then you may need to contact a licensed plumber for advice and assistance.3. Check that the path tap on your water meter is fully open.
Find the path tap on your water meter and make sure it’s fully open. This controls the flow of water supply into your property. Check our water service page to understand where your path tap is located.
4. Check with your neighbours.
If they aren’t experiencing similar low pressure issues, it may indicate a problem with your internal water service pipework such as a blockage between the water meter and your house. You will need to contact a licensed plumber for advice and assistance.
5. Check for internal leaks on your property.
Leaks can reduce the flow of water throughout your internal water service pipework, which can lead to low water pressure. Find out how to check for leaks on your property.
6. Check the time and frequency of low pressure occurrences.
Peak demand times can affect pressure. Peak demand periods are from 7-10 am and 5-10 pm when most people are using water. Periods of hot weather will also place additional stress on the water system. Our water supply system is designed to address estimated peak demand however at times the estimated peak demand can be exceeded. Those customers located on hills may noticed increased low pressure periods in these times.
7. Contact us
Should you have worked through all of the above and you are still unable to identify the problem, please contact us. Hunter Water provides a 24-hour Emergency & Faults line for our customers on 1300 657 000. We will ensure the low pressure is not a result of works in your area first and then assist you as best we can.
If you have HIGH water pressure, follow these steps to work out what the problem is and how to fix it.
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Step 1: Find the cause and what to do
1. We might be carrying out planned works in your area or there may be emergency work being carried out on our water mains.
Check our outages page to see if we have works happening near you.
2. There may be an issue with your internal plumbing.
We recommend to contact a licensed plumber for advice and assistance.
If you think you have unusually higher than normal water pressure, please contact us.