New supply pipe.

[Rigadon]

Hi all,

We've moved into a 60's bunalow and have got 2 bar presssure on our water but a pretty bad flow-rate, meaning that the pressure drops below .7 bar as soon as a tap is opened.

I've had Bristol Water out to check everything, they are saying there are no leaks and the pressure and flow at the boundary box are all fine, so I'm looking to put a new (bigger) service pipe.

The internal stopcock is at the back off the house, coming in through the concrete floor to the bottom of a cupboard below the existing boiler. I've had a quote to replace the existing pipe, which while not cheap, is certainly reasonable considering the work involved to get it from one side of the house to the other.

We are also building a new extension on the side of the house over the summer, so the alternative would be to dig a trench out at the same time and bring the supply into the bathroom at the front of the extension, then into the kitchen (at the back of the extension), before rejoining to where the current supply is coming in (below the boiler). This would work out loads cheaper, probably much less than half the price.

As part of all this, I would like to replace the existing system with a Combi. So my question is, would there be an issue with supplying the combi after both the bathroom and the kitchen, given the flow rate required to run the combi?

Obviously I could bring a new supply in as part of the build, up to the boiler and then back into the extension but despite the first option costing more, the convenience of getting the water sorted out independently to the extension may be worth the extra cost.

Any help or thoughts would be appreciated,

Ger.

 

[Jackrae]

How did the water board measure the flow ? Their stop-valve only isolates you from the main. Unless they actually tested the flow in the pipe within your property there is the possibility that a lump of debris is blocking the flow through their stop-valve.

Similarly, a lump of debris in your stop-cock might also be to blame.

 

[Rigadon]

I've no idea as I was off somewhere else at that point. I would like to assume that he measured it on my side of the stopcock though.

All the communication pipes round here were lead so I've got a call in for them to come and sort it out if they haven't done it already. The pipe that goes to the stopcock in the house is 1/2" copper but what it is before that I don't know as it disappears into a concrete floor.

There pressure here is never going to be great as I'm at the top of a hill so I'd like to get as good a flow as I can. I will check out the possibility of debris in the house stopcock, I assume it's going to have to be taken apart to check this?