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I have low water flow rate coming off the mains in my Victorian terrace. I have researched this a lot and believe that I am on a shared water supply across multiple other terraces, on very old lead pipework. As a result, the mains pressure is between 1 and 1.5 bar (you can actually see it fluctuating quite a lot at random intervals on a pressure gauge, presumably due to neighbours using their water).
Unfortunately the flow rate is very poor, at around 6l/min. I tried installing a Stuart Turner mains booster pump (MBF 12), foolishly thinking that this would increase the flow rate. The static pressure is constant at around 4 bar and has actually improved the flow rate slightly, but it’s still too low. When the washing machine is on for example, the kitchen tap flow rate drops massively, same goes for the electric shower. The dynamic pressure is also very low but there are no leaks anywhere.
My next idea is to install a water break tank in the extension loft (link below), have the input to the tank come off of the un-pumped mains, and have the output go to the input of the same Stuart Turner mains booster pump. The tank would be about 2 meters above ground, so would be about 0.2 bar at the pump level. The MBF 12 states that it can deliver “an additional 1.5 bar” of pressure. Would this setup give the 12l/min flow rate (albeit only about 1.7 bar pressure) that I am looking for?
My main concern is that the pump is specifically designed for boosting the mains, not acting like a shower pump being fed from a loft tank.
(https://www.screwfix.com/p/polytank-loft-tank-kit-42gallon-uk-1185mm-x-503mm-x-503mm/46467)
Unfortunately the flow rate is very poor, at around 6l/min. I tried installing a Stuart Turner mains booster pump (MBF 12), foolishly thinking that this would increase the flow rate. The static pressure is constant at around 4 bar and has actually improved the flow rate slightly, but it’s still too low. When the washing machine is on for example, the kitchen tap flow rate drops massively, same goes for the electric shower. The dynamic pressure is also very low but there are no leaks anywhere.
My next idea is to install a water break tank in the extension loft (link below), have the input to the tank come off of the un-pumped mains, and have the output go to the input of the same Stuart Turner mains booster pump. The tank would be about 2 meters above ground, so would be about 0.2 bar at the pump level. The MBF 12 states that it can deliver “an additional 1.5 bar” of pressure. Would this setup give the 12l/min flow rate (albeit only about 1.7 bar pressure) that I am looking for?
My main concern is that the pump is specifically designed for boosting the mains, not acting like a shower pump being fed from a loft tank.
(https://www.screwfix.com/p/polytank-loft-tank-kit-42gallon-uk-1185mm-x-503mm-x-503mm/46467)
