How often should you check home water pressure?
Updated July 2026
Test your home's static water pressure once a year with a $10 screw-on gauge at any outdoor hose bib. A healthy house sits at 40 to 60 psi; plumbing code caps supply pressure at 80 psi, and anything above that line is quietly straining every washer hose, fill valve, and fixture you own. High pressure is invisible until something bursts, which is exactly why a once-a-year gauge reading is worth the two minutes it takes.
What changes the interval
| Your situation | Interval | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Reading 40–60 psi | You are fine | The healthy range for household plumbing and appliances |
| Reading 61–80 psi | Keep an eye on it | Still legal, but the top end wears older fixtures faster |
| Reading over 80 psi | Fix it now | Above code max; add or service a pressure-reducing valve |
| City water on a hill or near a pump station | Check twice a year | Municipal pressure can spike past 80 psi overnight |
| You already have a PRV | Check yearly | PRVs drift and fail, letting full main pressure through |
| Washer supply hoses keep bursting | Test immediately | Blown hoses are the classic high-pressure symptom |
| Water heater relief valve drips | Test immediately | Pressure, not heat, often trips the T&P valve |
The cost of skipping it
What skipping it costs: pressure above 80 psi shortens the life of everything downstream. A ruptured washing-machine hose can dump hundreds of gallons an hour onto a laundry-room floor, and water-damage claims routinely run $3,000 to 10,000. Chronic high pressure also cracks toilet fill valves, wears faucet cartridges, and drips the water heater relief valve. A pressure-reducing valve costs $150 to 350 installed, cheap insurance against a single blown line.
How to do it (5 minutes · DIY with a $10 gauge)
- Buy a screw-on water-pressure gauge (about $10 at any hardware store).
- Pick an outdoor hose bib closest to where the main enters, and make sure no water is running inside.
- Thread the gauge onto the spigot hand-tight and open the valve fully.
- Read the needle: that is your static pressure. Note anything over 80 psi.
- For the true peak, leave the gauge on overnight; some models keep a red tell-tale hand at the high.
- If it reads high, check whether you have a pressure-reducing valve near the main and have it adjusted or replaced.
Knowing the interval is the easy half. OnOtto reminds you at the right interval, and it won't let you snooze it into next year. Tasks persist until they're done, and completing water pressure checks schedules the next one automatically.
Put this on autopilot, free for 30 daysFrequently asked questions
What water pressure is too high for a house?
Anything over 80 psi is too high; that is the ceiling most plumbing codes set. The comfortable target is 40 to 60 psi, where showers feel strong but nothing is stressed. Between 60 and 80 you are legal but living near the limit. Above 80, the fix is a pressure-reducing valve at the main, not just tolerating it, because the damage accrues silently over years.
Can water pressure be too low, and is that a problem?
Below about 40 psi, showers go weak and appliances fill slowly, but low pressure will not damage anything the way high pressure does. Common causes are a partly closed main valve, a failing pressure-reducing valve stuck low, or a clogged whole-house filter choking flow. If the gauge reads low everywhere, start at the main shutoff and the PRV; if it is low at one fixture only, the problem is a clogged aerator or cartridge there.
Does high pressure really raise my water bill?
Indirectly, yes. Higher pressure pushes more water through every open tap, toilet fill, and any small leak, so a running fixture wastes faster. The bigger cost is failure: a burst hose or split fitting can leak for hours before you notice. Dropping pressure into the 50 to 60 psi range trims consumption a little and, more importantly, buys years of extra life out of hoses, valves, and seals throughout the house.