Truckee Meadows Water Authority
Login
  • Customers Customers
    • Overview
    • Billing & Payment Options
    • Start, Stop or Transfer Service
    • Reading Your Meter
    • Assigned-Day Watering
    • About Service Line Coverage Offered to TMWA Customers
    • Emergency Information
    • Rules and Rates
    • “How-to” Videos
    • Newsletter
    • Service Territory Map
    Receive your water bill online
    Enroll in paperless billing
  • Your Water Your Water
    • Overview
    • Water Quality
    • Water Quality Report
    • Topics & Facts
    • Water Projects
    • OneWater Nevada
    • Education
    • Distribution
    • Water Treatment
    • Planning
    • Water Facility & Resources
    Clean water begins at the source, Lake Tahoe
    Learn More
  • Our Environment Our Environment
    • Overview
    • Complete Landscaping Guide
    • Conservation
    • WaterSense
    • Source Water Protection Program
    • Green TMWA
    • Make a Difference
    • Truckee River Fund
    • TMWA Storage
    Keeping a close eye on our water
    Learn More
  • Business With Us Business With Us
    • Overview
    • New Construction
    • Procurement Services
    • Construction Standards
    • Backflow Prevention
    • Construction Water
    • Well Mitigation Program
    From application to service activation
    Doing Business With TMWA
  • About About
    • About TMWA
    • Contact TMWA
    • News & Articles
    • Events & Meetings
    • FAQs
    • Employment
    • Board of Directors and Committees
    • Leadership
    • Financial Information
    • Related Organizations
    • Privacy Policy
    • Public Records Requests
    • Media Requests
  • Report Water Waste
News

Water Pressure: Keeping the Water Flowing to Your Home

December 2, 2024

TMWA delivers water to approximately 450,000 customers across extremely hilly terrain. From the foothills to the valley floor, the variation of high and low elevations makes managing water pressure a complex task.

In fact, there are 279 distinct pressure zones within TMWA’s service territory and each receives water at a certain pressure gradient. To deliver water at reliable pressures across this landscape, TMWA has a network of pipes, storage facilities, pumps, valves and pressure regulation devices—among other equipment.

“While the pressures in our system can fluctuate between 25 and 125 pounds per square inch (psi), a typical household will have a safe pressure range between 40 and 100 psi,” said Eric Mothershead, TMWA’s operations maintenance supervisor. “What can make this difficult to regulate is the difference in elevation between a water storage source and the ultimate customer location.”

For example, the highest elevation point in TMWA’s system is the Mt. Rose 3 tank at 6,676 feet, which is higher than the rim of Lake Tahoe at 6,225 feet). The lowest elevation point in the system is 3,983 feet, representing 2,600 feet between the high and low points in our system.

Diagram showing the difference between the lowest and highest points in TMWA's system.

To be clear, there is no single water source in TMWA’s system that drops 2,600 feet to the end user. However, if your home is in a low-lying area, you should have a pressure-regulating device protecting your household plumbing from higher pressures. Correspondingly, if you live at a higher elevation, there’s a good chance TMWA is pumping uphill some or all the water you use.

“The goal is to make sure pressure is sufficiently strong at higher elevations and not too strong in lower areas,” Mothershead said. “There are places where we have to take the pressure down from over 300+ psi to under 65 psi in order to serve our customers without stressing their household plumbing,” Mothershead added. “On the low end, we try to maintain at least 40 psi in lower-pressure areas—while also maintaining adequate flows for fire crews when needed.”

If you have a concern about water pressure at your home or business, please contact a plumber.

Share
Share to Facebook Facebook Share to X X Share to LinkedIn LinkedIn Share to Instagram Instagram Share to Email Email
Categories
  • How To
  • Landscaping
  • News
  • Tips
  • Water Quality

More Articles

News

Are You Odd or Even? Know Your Watering Days!

Following TMWA’s Assigned-Day Watering progra...
News

Addressing Wildfire Risk in the Middle Truckee River Watershed

The Middle Truckee River Watershed is like much...
News

AVOID EXTRA FEES! Sign Up for AutoPay

Credit card fees are a reality for any transact...
Previous
All Articles
Next
  • Customers
  • About
  • My Account
  • Employment
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Water
  • Our Environment
  • TMWA News
  • Affiliated Sites
  • Media Requests

1355 Capital Blvd
Reno, Nevada 89502

Get Directions

Customer Service
775.834.8080

Emergency Hotline (24 hr)
775.834.8090

Contact Us

Truckee Meadows Water Authority is a community-owned water utility, overseen by elected officials and citizen appointees from Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County.

© 2025 Truckee Meadows Water Authority. All Rights Reserved.

We have updated our privacy policy and want to make sure you know how we are using information you provide. We use cookies to help you sign up for services, count how many visitors come to our site, personalize content, and serve targeting advertisements. Read about how we use cookies and how you can control them in our privacy policy if you continue to use this site, you consent to the use of our cookies.
Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT