Plumbing advice please

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We are in the process of some house renovations which will eventually involve moving our current kitchen and redoing our en-site. For starters we are putting in a water softener and ripping out the bathroom and I want to use the opportunity to prep for this as much as possible.

My idea of the piping is below which I was going to do with plastic as the existing pipework looks awful... not that I'm concerned by the looks, but it doesn't look like the most efficient way of doing it and has been hacked and changed since the 70's when it was originally done.

We have a new combi boiler and what looks to be a 15mm feed into the house after the stopcock, so I understand there will be certain limitations with pressure and flow. I am already at peace with not being able to have 2 showers running at the same time. I am replacing 2 electric ones which are absolutely awful, so anything will be better.

Pipe diagram - draft.png


The advice I need is as follows:

1. Does my diagram seem a sensible approach to the pipework. The 15mm to 10mm reducers are the only thing I think is suspect. My reasoning is to try to take as little flow from the showers as possible? Would this even work or be worthwhile?

2. Is it worth getting a plumber in to look at moving / optimising the water metre as the 90 degree elbows seem like they are restricting the flow of water into the house? Also, what is the black cylinder after the stopcock? Water filter?

Stopcock and metre 2.jpg

3. Should I reuse as much of the existing pipework as possible or am I better replacing? My thoughts for completely replacing are to minimise the number of joins which should reduce the places where the pipes can leak as well as maximising the flow. I can also isolate areas of the system so that I don't need all the water off if I want to start working on the en-suite. Some examples of the existing pipework:

Boiler pipework.jpg Pipes exiting from utility.jpg Pipes to first floor.jpg

Thanks in advance,

Paddy
 
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I am not a plumber...

I'm a little confused as to your hard/soft water arrangements. Softened water is a costly commodity so I'm wondering why you have it servicing an outside tap and the toilets. (Maybe for good reason, i dunno.)

I'd manifold the systems though. Its a bit more piping but a much better distribution.

Is this direct from the mains? If so do you not need strict arrangements as you are not showing them.
 
I can't open the plan.
Any way, I would do 2 and while he's there get (and pay for) some advice from the local plumber who you will need at some point anyway. He can see the situation on the ground.
Absolute "plumbers medley" of different fittings and pipes on show. I'd be replacing as much as possible.
 
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I'm a little confused as to your hard/soft water arrangements. Softened water is a costly commodity so I'm wondering why you have it servicing an outside tap and the toilets. (Maybe for good reason, i dunno.)

I'd manifold the systems though. Its a bit more piping but a much better distribution.

The outside tap is for infrequent washing of cars to stop water spots / mineral deposits. The toilets are also covered in limescale so we are looking to improve this.

Manifolds do seem like a good idea, but I haven't found any which look suitable. The only ones I have seen are for underfloor heating?

I can't open the plan.
Any way, I would do 2 and while he's there get (and pay for) some advice from the local plumber who you will need at some point anyway. He can see the situation on the ground.
Absolute "plumbers medley" of different fittings and pipes on show. I'd be replacing as much as possible.

This is what I thought, thanks.
 

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