Annual Inspection is a Homeowner Responsibility

We live in mountain country. This fact makes maintaining a consistent water pressure across the entire community nearly impossible. For this reason, your house must have a water Pressure Regulator installed between your water meter and your first faucet or appliance that uses water. These are usually located inside the house (usually in your basement or crawl space beneath your house) at the point where your water line enters the house from the water meter.

GCSD is one of three communities in the nation with a water filtration avoidance waiver. The other two are New York City and San Francisco. The reason we don’t have to filter our water is because it is maintained in a pristine condition from snow pack to your home. This waiver saves our customers well over $20 per month on their water bills because filtration is expensive. The down side to this waiver is that sand and grit that spills off the walls of the Hetch Hetchy Mountain Tunnel can be pumped into our distribution system. We try to intercept most of this grit and sand with a large sand separator before it comes to your home. But, sometimes some sand and grit gets through. If you see some, please call us.

Because you may sometimes get sand or grit in your water, it could be trap on the screen of your water pressure regulator. If too much accumulates, it could reduce the effectiveness of your water pressure regulator. For this reason, we ask that you or your plumber inspect and test your water pressure regulator on an annual basis. While inspecting the pressure regulator, your water pressure can be set to your liking for use inside your house. We suggest that you select a pressure between 40 and 50 pounds per square inch (PSI).

This is a homeowner responsibility, so please avoid damage to your home and appliances by checking your water pressure regulator at least once a year.