Low rate of water flow (cold)

[dpm_dpmartin]

Good afternoon - hoping this is the right place.

I'm suffering - newly purchased house - with a limited flow of cold water.

If I turn the kitchen sink tap to fully cold then a very reduced amount of cold water comes out (more than a dribble, but not a good amount). If I turn the sink tap to fully hot then a lot more comes out. Boiler is a system boiler with a tank, so that makes sense to me.

I have found my internal stop-tap, near the meter, and turned it fully open (I turned it fully closed first to make sure the water flow stopped completely, it did).

Yorkshire Water (or someone they contracted) were out in the street with diggers and a big dumper truck about a month ago - part of me is piecing two and two together and maybe getting five - wondering if that's caused the issue I'm now having. I've been outside to try and find my external stop tap, but there's nothing obvious (yet).

Is that what I should continue looking for, the external stop tap, to check its position?

 

[Agile]

Water flow is measured in litres per minute.

Until you measure that we cannot make any judgements based on your personal feelings about flow rates.

I think you need a competent plumber to diagnose the cause and advise on possibly remedies!

That should cost a little.

Tony

 

[dpm_dpmartin]

Well,

I own two houses, that are quite literally next door to each other, and the cold flow rate in one is fine, while the flow rate in the other is vastly reduced when it's compared directly.

I can, of course, measure the difference by filling up a litre (or some measure) container. It would prove my non-subjective observation quite accurately I reckon.

Would that help you come to a judgement?

 

[Belboz]

Has the flow rate reduced recently?

What I mean by that is..

Was the flow rate better beforehand?

Did the water company say the water would be off for an amount of time whilst they did the work or did you notice no water at any stage?

Assuming the internal stopcock is fully open (you say it is) then you really need to find the external (street) stopcock [albeit you would need the correct tool to ensure that the external one is fully open]

There are several possible reasons for the reduction as I am sure you appreciate.

 

[dpm_dpmartin]

I only recently bought next door (well, end of January) so I'm not really sure how it's been before... I've not used much water there in the last couple of months.

Anyway, the houses are a mirror-image of each other... same central heating system, same kitchen fit-out, same tap (kitchen sink) that I've just tested...

House 1 - time taken to fill a 1 litre container (fully cold) = 8 seconds
House 2 - time taken to fill a 1 litre container (fully cold) = 22 seconds

This is why I'm sure something is awry... having looked into the obvious things I could think of (internal stop tap) I was looking for some next steps... it does sound like external stop tap would be the place for me to be now.

 

[Belboz]

FWIW, I would check the external stopcock first to see if it has been turned off at some stage and then not fully re-opened. That would be my next aim.

Assuming that both external and internal stopcocks are fully open and the flow rate is still reduced, I would then be contacting the utility company with a view to asking them what their expected flow rate is and then to check your setup if the flow rate is below what they suggest.

As I said, there are lots of possibilities including a possible leak somewhere outside prior to the water entering your property.

Someone on here will confirm but I believe that anything wrong BEFORE the meter is down to the water utility to sort. At least that is normally the way with other utilities.

 

[dpm_dpmartin]

Thank you. Yes, I wanted to check the external stop tap first (when I find it) and that would be the limit of my investigations, for sure.

 

[dpm_dpmartin]

I had a Central Heating Engineer around to do a Gas Safety Certificate and he was quite helpful in further diagnosing the issue.

He confirmed my internal stop-tap was fine.
He confirmed any isolation valves on taps were open.
He confirmed the hot water flow was fine.
He confirmed the external stop-tap was fully open (it could be opened a further half-turn he said, but he did that and it made no appreciable difference).

He then pointed the finger of suspicion at the water meter, saying it may be faulty.

He advised me to call Yorkshire Water anyway. He used the little plastic jug thing they carry around to measure flow - in that house the hot water tap has a flow of 9 litres, the cold has a flow of 2 litres... in the house next door the hot water has a flow of 9 litres and the cold water has a flow of 9 litres.

So, at least I hopefully have something concrete to inform Yorkshire Water of... I am hoping I am not charged for this as I reckon I've done all I could be expected to do as a home owner.

 

[dpm_dpmartin]

Oh, and Yorkshire Water say that flow should be 12 litres per minute.

 

[longdogs]

faulty water metres are becoming a common problem unfortunately.

 

[dpm_dpmartin]

Yorkshire Water booked-in for 13 Apr., we'll see.

 

[Belboz]

That's good news- at least you are getting somewhere.

You've done everything that can be expected so wait and see what the utility company say.

Don't be fobbed off by whoever they send. At the end of the day, common sense suggests that a very reduced flow rate without any potential obstructions between meter and tap suggests a faulty meter.

I don't know much about water meters (I am lucky enough not to have one) but I assume the engineer can test the flow rate from the incoming mains PRIOR to the meter by isolating the supply.

That will confirm your (our) suspicions.

Let us know how you get one and good luck!

B

 

[Bosswhite]

FWIW, I would check the external stopcock first to see if it has been turned off at some stage and then not fully re-opened. That would be my next aim.

Assuming that both external and internal stopcocks are fully open and the flow rate is still reduced, I would then be contacting the utility company with a view to asking them what their expected flow rate is and then to check your setup if the flow rate is below what they suggest.

As I said, there are lots of possibilities including a possible leak somewhere outside prior to the water entering your property.

Someone on here will confirm but I believe that anything wrong BEFORE the meter is down to the water utility to sort. At least that is normally the way with other utilities.

Your last item is not quite right these days, The Water Utility is responsible for the meter, ( the filter on the meter could be blocked)

However they now say that the pipe work from the Boundary/outside stopcock of the property to the Meter is the Householders responsibility,( they dont want the cost of digging up a garden and going through house walls to replace the pipework to the meter )
Water Companies now do Insurance cover in order to cover this sort of problem

 

[Belboz]

Thanks BW,

I didn't know that.

So, assuming the meter is okay, the householder has to fork out to find the fault in the pipework between street stopcock and house?

Fecking robbing barstewards...

As if we don't pay enough to them already...

 

[sooey]

I assume that you've got gravity fed cold to the bathroom, meaning that the kitchen cold is the only one that's mains fed. Is that right?
If it is how do you know it isn't the tap that's faulty? Or the pipe supplying it, twisted flexy hose for example. Have you checked those things?