Water Pressure Tester

Getting ready to install or repair an irrigation system? Step #1 is to determine how much water pressure you have available for your system.

To begin, ensure that no water is running inside or outside of the home, attach the gauge to any outside faucet, open the faucet completely, read the gauge, and make note of the number.

To determine water flow, use a measurable container (5 gallon bucket), ensure that no water is running inside or outside of the home, open the faucet completely, and time how long it takes to fill the container. To calculate gallons per minute (GPM) with a 5 gallon bucket: divide 300 by the number of seconds required to fill the bucket – this is your flow rate in GPM.

If the water pressure is below 30 PSI or the flow rate is below 6 GPM you may wish to talk to a qualified plumber to determine if your pressure can be safely increased to allow for efficient irrigation.