Reducing water flow

[StudWall]

Hi all,

I have an issue with both the toilet and washing machine where they consume water far too quickly!

When I had to replace my washing machine a little while back I noticed that when it fills with water it does so very quickly and when it shuts off I get hammer down the pipes (same thing with the loo but no hammer). I fitted a hammer arrester to the washing machine feed which did the job for a while but I guess it's scaled up now and doesn't work so well. It also means that when you flush the loo there is almost no flow to wash your hands with because the cistern is stealing it all. Is there a way to slow down the water flow into these 2 so they don't hog all the water when running? I tried to turn down the isolation valves but that just results in a loud whistling!

 

[undertrained]

Check your stopcock is fully open.

 

[StudWall]

Yes it is, how is that going to make a difference?

 

[oldbuffer]

1. Test static water pressure, for which you will need a pressure gauge.
2. If greater than 2.5 bar, fit a pressure reducing valve in the incoming cold main. Set to 2.5 bar.
3. If you have an unvented hot water cylinder, check the above with a suitably qualified (G3) plumber before action.

If your stop cock was not fully open, it would not affect the pressure but would affect the rate of flow, allowing one outlet to potentially starve others.

 

[undertrained]

Yes it is, how is that going to make a difference?

As old buffer has said, it would reduce the flow rate not the pressure. Therefore flushing the toilet then running a tap would have this detrimental affect.

 

[StudWall]

Checked the stopcock and is fully open

 

[Madrab]

Your toilet can have a pressure reducer insert installed in to the fill valve inlet and the washing machine can have a flow regulating valve added downstream.

 

[StudWall]

I'll try and find some flow restrictors