Water Pressure Question

rockabaloo

I got a mains water pressure gauge to test the water pressure at my father's house. I have good water pressure at my house and measured it at 4 bar. I didn't think my dad's would be as good as mine but when I measured it it was 4 bar as well.

The pressure definitely seems different though. When I squirt a hose with no connections on it in the air at my house the water goes up about 5 or 6 metres whereas if I conduct the same unscientific test at my father's house the water only goes up 3 or 4 metres.

Is the pressure gauge wrong or what is going on?

KK4SAM

There will be substantial pressure drop through the hose at full bore.
While the static pressure may be the same the flow may be restricted by any of the following:
Stop cock not fully open.
Foreign object in the water main ferrule especially if its a self tapping ferrule.
Iron or manganese build up.
Water leak

Pete67

If there is restriction in the pipework somewhere, then you might have 4 bar with no flow, but as soon as the water starts to flow the pressure at the point of use drops significantly. All piping systems suffer from pressure drop due to frictional losses between the water moving in the pipe and the internal surface of the pipework. Small diameter and long pipe runs both lead to high pressure drops. So do bends, elbows, valves and other fittings.

To get a good idea of the water supply at a location you really need to do a combined pressure and flow test.

rockabaloo

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I think I may take the same hose from my house to my father's house as a test. If I'm using the exact same hose then I'm ruling a lot of variables out. But I guess there will still be differences with the taps, etc.