Low water pressure advise

[timsc]

Hi,

I’m looking for some advice on addressing the low water pressure in our upstairs bathroom.

We had a new bathroom fitted about eight months ago. The low water pressure issue was raised by the fitters at the time, but we decided to leave it. However, eight months on, I’d like to resolve it.

We’ve always had low water pressure upstairs, so this isn’t a new problem. (We’ve been using a shower pump for 15 years.) That said, we didn’t need a pump for the old basin or bath taps. The fitters mentioned that the previous taps were 3/4-inch fittings, whereas the new ones are 1/4-inch, which has made the pressure issue more noticeable with the basin and bath taps.

The fitters connected the bath taps to the existing shower pump (so the bath and shower now share the same pump). However, the basin isn’t connected to the pump, and the pressure there is extremely low.

Our current pump, which serves the shower and bath, is very loud, so I don’t want to connect the basin taps to it. The pump is currently located in the airing cupboard next to the bathroom.

Here are my main questions:

• Are there any quiet pumps you’d recommend that could be installed in the loft?
• Are there alternative solutions, such as improving the water pressure at the source?

For context, the house is a 1930s build that has been extended over the years. The water pressure downstairs is higher, but the outside tap still doesn’t have enough pressure to use a sprinkler or clean the car without a dedicated pump.

Let me know if you need more details. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[terryplumb]

Is your outside tap connected to the mains cold water supply ?
What is the incoming mains cold pressure like ,the kitchen cold tap is often the closest to where the mains cold water enters the building, what's that taps flow like ?
Is the upstairs pressure poor on hot as well as cold on bathroom basin ?
All pumps make a noise to one degree or another, I can't say that I have noticed any substantial difference between them ,others may have though.

 

[Madrab]

Presumption is the bathroom and HW is fed from a Cold Water cistern in the attic?

Yes - biggest issue would be the new taps - the old bath would be 3/4" with large waterways, the new one should be the same unless it is a cartridge type monobloc or 1/4 turn, each will restrict flow when it's a gravity hot and cold supply
The basin would have been 1/2" again with large waterway and new would be at a max 12mm with narrow waterways, if it's a single hole monobloc which is even worse for gravity supplies.

Unless you change the supply from being gravity to mains then there's little to be done at the source. There are inline shower booster pumps that can make a difference, though I have only ever fitted them once and I must be honest though they did make a bit of difference it wasn't anything like a proper booster pump.

Depends on what outcome you are looking for

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[timsc]

Thank you both for your replies.

@terryplumb

Yes, the outside tap is connected to the cold water supply. The kitchen tap pressure is OK (higher than the outside tap). However, the upstairs pressure is poor for both hot and cold water.

@Madrab

Thanks for clarifying the points around the tap dimensions. Yes, the basin tap is a single-hole monobloc fed via a gravity supply.

At this stage, improving the bathroom basin water pressure would be great. A booster seems like it might be a good option.

I’m just conscious of adding extra noise from pumps, but at <50 dB, the booster looks like a feasible solution. I’m guessing it could be installed in the attic to reduce noise?

Here’s what I see as the possible options, let me know if you agree or can think of anything else.

1. Install a booster for the bathroom basin (perhaps in the attic to minimize noise).
2. Replace the bathroom basin tap with a 1/2-inch fitting.
3. Change the bathroom water supply from gravity-fed to mains-fed.

Again, thanks a lot for the help here.

 

[terryplumb]

1. Booster can be fitted on a dedicated supply to the basin tap.
2. Changing Monobloc tap on basin for another one is fairly pointless,as they are all much the same ,and generally only good for mains pressure applications.
3. How would you propose to change the hot water supply to mains pressure,did you have a combi boiler install in mind ?
If your garden tap is under mains pressure ,and flow from it is poor , is your mains water stopcock fully open ?