Water pressure requirements as landlord

Hi,

I own a property in the Moreton Bay region and the tenant has complained of low water pressure. I have been quoted $2k to remedy, stating that the old galvanised line from kerb to premises has degraded and is causing low pressure.

My query relates to an objective test to confirm the legitimacy of the tenants claims. The complaint coincides with an increase in weekly rent and upon investigation the tenant claims the water pressure has always been like this.

if it is a legitimate issue I understand the need to remedy the problem, however have not been able to objectively confirm the need for these works.

Can anyone advise legal obligations or objective tests to confirm a path forward in this issue?

Thanks in advance!

 

It needs to be fixed regardless of whether the complaint occurred when the rent increased ...

 

"the old galvanised line from kerb to premises has degraded and is causing low pressure" - yeah narh, what? lol. Unless it's leaking (and the leak is causing the pressure loss), that just makes no sense [*makes no sense to me as a lay person]

It's a catch 22 in some cases where the water restriction devices that limit flow also in turn reduce the water pressure and from time to time tenants complain.

In this case, from the limited info and gist provided, if it were me I'd go back to the tenant with "we've have a plumber out to investigate your concern, there is no water leak and nothing has changed - water supply pressure is set and controlled by the council. Also, you may wish to clean your tap outlet filters and shower heads etc as they can block up from the build up of minerals in the water, a product like CLR to soak them in removes this effortlessly".

 

Needs to be fixed.
Those old galvanised pipes do degrade over time and this is a simple maintenance issue.

 

Get a second quote.

Gal pipe probably won't stop at the house either (must be pretty old as I can't recall galv pipe being used for 60+ years).

Has the tenant checked that the stopcock on the meter hasn't been turned down? Good practical joke for Halloween.

 

old gal pipe is a normal issue in lowering water pressure due to the internal rusting over 20-60 years and quote seems reasonable.

Cheers, Elives

 

How does the pipe rusting internally reduce the water pressure?

 

the pressure remains the same but the pipe becomes smaller and smaller / clogged with rust reducing the amount of water coming out of the taps.

 

I'm thinking the same, doesn't compute, smaller ID on the feed pipe would increase pressure I would've thought?

 

The pipe clogs up and reduces the amount of water getting through.

 

Kinda the same way too many hambugers, chips and donuts can cause clogging of the arteries to your heart
The build-up on the inside restricts the flow and eventually

I'd sooner have to replace some gal pipes than undergo a heart bypass

 

Yep, this happened to my garden tap - water flow trickled out. Replaced the gal pipe and completely restored regular flow.

 

If they bypass your heart, where does the blood go?

 

It gets drained (like having a TFN)
Then it is warmed up a little, and they charge you a fortune to pump it back in
All based on the ATO system (take as much as possible, giving you just enough back for survival )

*am all for blood and plasma donations