mains water pump?

[jackg]

My bungalow shares the water supply with one house. The water pipe is 350 yards from the Bristol water mains on the road.
The flow rate is about 10litres/minute measured by the time takn to fill a 1litre jug.
I get low flow rates occassionally so considering a water pump.
The plumbing system is a pressurised HWC and a system boiler.
Two showers, two loos, four sinks and a bath.
Looking for suggestions for a pump if someone can?
Online searches bring up these two:

Salamander HOMEBOOST 1.6 Bar Mains Booster Pump

Salamander Homeboost 1.6 Bar Mains Booster Pump. Lowest price guaranteed. In stock: Delivery Next Day. Rated 4.9/5. Paypal Accepted.

www.plumbworld.co.uk

or more expensive

https://www.waterpump.co.uk/dab-e-sybox-booster-pump?faq=9

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

There's a bit more to it than that, you cant pump Mains Water directly from the supply, it's not allowed. Might be better looking at upgrading the incoming supply first.

 

[jackg]

For a separate supply.
New connection by Bristol Water: £5200
Chlorine test of new pipe: £250 ish
Laying 350m of 32mm new pipe, some or all barrier pipe: £5-6k.
Or a bore hole: £8k ish?

 

[Scally-Ho]

What size (bore) is your mains supply pipe? 350yds is one heck of a run resistance wise.

 

[jackg]

The pipe used is black alkathene class D. 280 yards of 1" to the house then 70 yards of 3/4" to my bungalow. Laid in 1979.
Class D 1" is 21.9mm bore.
Class D 3/4" is 17.5mm bore.
My bungalow was garages until 2004, hence the reason for the smaller bore.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

3/4" should still be adequate for one property, what is the pressure at the house like? Are any/all Stop Valves on the run fully open? Also, have Bristol Water checked/informed you what the pressure is like at the road. (No point laying a new service if their main isn't man enough to increase your supply.)

 

[endecotp]

There's a bit more to it than that, you cant pump Mains Water directly from the supply, it's not allowed. Might be better looking at upgrading the incoming supply first.

It’s interesting that Salamander seem to be selling this product that basically does exactly that, as far as I can tell.

 

[Scally-Ho]

It’s interesting that Salamander seem to be selling this product that basically does exactly that, as far as I can tell.

They are selling their pump and not all of the ancillary equipment needed to make up a potable water pressurised system.

 

[jackg]

The pressure is pretty good mostly, but dips when the house use theirs, e.g. mornings and filling the paddling pool.
The valves are all fully open AFAIK.
Bristol Water did not mention the supply pressure as any issue on the site visit.
I have planning permission to erect a 50mSq shed which I may resubmit for accommodation depending on advice. So potentially two properties.

 

[^woody^]

Boost Showers from Gravity/Mains System | Shower Power Booster

Easy way to increase shower or tap performance from mixed hot water systems. DIY fit with no electrician needed. British designed & made. Discover more…

showerpowerbooster.co.uk

Not just for showers. WRAS appoved

 

[cdbe]

Don't those pumps "suck" (I know they actually don't) - and wouldn't it "suck" water from the other house rather than the main a quarter of a mile away?

 

[Nige F]

Or a bore hole: £8k ish?

I'd look into that - the way things are going . Off grid

 

[Justin Passing]

I'd want to know :
Static pressure, at different times of the day
DYnamic pressure - in other words what happens when you draw water.

So first, buy a pressure guage you can screw on, with a flexy.. £30 at Screwfix, half that on Amazon or less here

BES.co.uk | Next Day Delivery On 15,000 + Plumbing Supplies

Pressure / Pressure Gauge - PN: 21073 - Order Gas and Plumbing Supplies online at BES.co.uk. Low Prices, Free Next Day Delivery Available, 15k Plus Products in stock

www.bes.co.uk

All taps off, you can measure the (road) pressure at the house because it won't drop pressure in the communication pipe..
Then you need a nonrestrictive tap to mwsurer potential flow. (not quite trivial, but full bore taps are available.

Then you need to measure the drop along a known length of pipe. If you can find/make additional test point you can do simultaneous equations (ask a 14 year old) to work out different bits.
If you can measure the pressure at the lend of a very long pipe with no flow, the pressure will be the same, so maybe you could use the othe r building for that.
You control the flow, , eg into a bucket.
If you can measure at an intermediate tap like an outside tap, you can get the pressure drop with a known flow.

Then you hit the internet and find pressure-loss tables and graphs and find nothing matches - in fact they'll generally disagree with each other. But you get a picture.

At the end of the day, if you ucan't get the from from the mains down that long pipe, you need the pump towards the road end, which may be impossible.

So you need to fill up a Break Tank of water you can pump from. Work out how much you have to store, from usage figures. You can pump that as much as you llike.

Also look up Accumulators. Those are water tanks whch get pressurised up to mains pressure (squashing air in an air (or N2) pressure vessel.

Those have the advantage of being closed and needing no lectric, but have to be pretty big to store up enough water at the high pressure. As you draw the water, the pressure drops.
You can be asked to pay through the nose for them by rip-off companies like OSO.

I've been through all this a coupla times, but it was learnig a lot. YOU need a plumber who has done it dozens of times and isn't learning as he goes. Good luck with that!! If you can't find one, ask the pump manufacturers. They will know the local regs and what's doable.