We needed to replace our bathroom basin mixer and two bath mixers with hand shower attachments. All 15 years old so past sell by date to say the least. The basin and one of the bath mixers were dual flow hot and cold and the other bath mixer mixed the water in the spout. I got some new ones suitable for low pressure water and realised afterwards that they all mixed the water in the body of the tap. Reading the instructions got me worried about what sort of supply I had and the possible need for check valves (none on the current pipework). Like an idiot I'd never considered backflow!
I have a couple of questions and would really appreciate some guidance (the instruction leaflet said to contact the Water Company who were useless!):
1. Looking at the system pipework the bath hot and cold supplies are obviously both fed from a cistern in the loft (3 tanks up there one of which is the CH header).
My understanding of this is that this is a balanced system - at least on the baths - and that there is no need for check valves as the water gap in the cistern protects the cold supply. Is this correct?
2. I'm not sure about the basin cold supply. It is stronger than the hot (I'm going to change the isolation valve on the hot feed for a full bore one to see if that makes a difference to the flow) - could the cold be fed direct from the mains? The basin mixer I put on is better in the 2 fully open hot or cold positions than in the mixed position. As a precaution and because I couldn't work out what exactly was going on I put a check valve on the cold feed. Can anyone advise me whether I need to put one on the hot as well or if it's safe to do without them at all?
Income prevents me from just getting a plumber in so I'd really appreciate your help.
I have a couple of questions and would really appreciate some guidance (the instruction leaflet said to contact the Water Company who were useless!):
1. Looking at the system pipework the bath hot and cold supplies are obviously both fed from a cistern in the loft (3 tanks up there one of which is the CH header).
My understanding of this is that this is a balanced system - at least on the baths - and that there is no need for check valves as the water gap in the cistern protects the cold supply. Is this correct?
2. I'm not sure about the basin cold supply. It is stronger than the hot (I'm going to change the isolation valve on the hot feed for a full bore one to see if that makes a difference to the flow) - could the cold be fed direct from the mains? The basin mixer I put on is better in the 2 fully open hot or cold positions than in the mixed position. As a precaution and because I couldn't work out what exactly was going on I put a check valve on the cold feed. Can anyone advise me whether I need to put one on the hot as well or if it's safe to do without them at all?
Income prevents me from just getting a plumber in so I'd really appreciate your help.
