Help re Shower for Mum in sheltered flat

[steviemac]

I'll try to cut a long story short but give enough info to help.

My mum has moved into a ground floor council flat in a two floor sheltered old folks area. Bathroom has no shower and she can't use baths easily. Council won't let her install a shower for electrical supply issues (i'm not clear on what but their electrician is adamant).

Looking at options- shower mixer taps on bath seemed worth a look. I'm a bit worried that they might be fiddly to get heat right and I don't want a surge of hot or cold to cause a problem. Found info re Venturi showers too which look possible.

I think I need to clarify more re water supply and pressure. She has two supply pipes, hot and cold, both with stopcocks, she has no tanks for either, pipes come into flat from above, into airing cupboard, from at least the floor above.

What questions do I need to ask re water pressure to help decide best options? how do I determine water pressure which seems key to choosing options and even individual mixer taps.

Any advice generally welcome re what's best for my mum in this scenario.

 

[Nige F]

Get Social services involved and quote disability discrimination @ the council........You should not have to get involved in building work for your aged/disabled mum.OR spend any of her money ..........I`d put a few fux into the council.

 

[steviemac]

Yeah that's Plan B, once I find out a bit more abotu what can / cannot be done. I agree it seems ludicrous all round and hardly eco friendly that she can't have a shower.

 

[ChrisR]

You could estimate supply pressure if you knew where the supplies came from. Cold may be mains or roof/several floors above, hot may be roof/several floors above. You'd have bother if the cold were mains and the hot not.
As a first look I'd see if a thumb over the tap can stop the water flowing. My thumb can hold 2-3 bar ok depending on access.
You could buy (£10) a water P guage, and use a tap adaptor, or
you could buy a cheap shower hose Y shaped thing to shove onto taps and see if you can control it. May need jubilee clips.
A real concern is that you could get over-hot water onto your Mum's tender skin. If you were using mixed water and the cold failed for some reason she wouldn't be able to get out quick. That may be behind some of the council's unwillingness to act.
You can buy mixers which shut off completely if this happens.

Daft thing with electric showers is that everyone specifying seems to want the max power available, whereas several elderly folk I've put them in for only want a modest flow to stop it going everywhere. Ie 7kW which is easy to provide rather than 10.5kW which may not be.

 

[Nige F]

Good answer Chris R