- Joined
- 12 Oct 2024
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- 211
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- Country
Hi everyone!
Myself and my neighbours are only getting 7.5l per minute cold water flow in our homes. This is rubbish. 15L or more is considered good, we are barely at half that. You can have a decent shower, but somebody running a tap in the kitchen interferes. The garden hose is a joke. I see this becoming more of an annoyance as my missus and I plan to have a family.
I called the water company and they agreed this is poor and sent somebody out. He found that the pressure at the back garden tap is 2.6 bars, which is more than adequate. The problem is with the flow of water. We then went to the meter at the front, just inside the highway from my driveway, and he found the same pressure but also that 23L per minute comes out at that point!
So it seems there is a problem between that point and the taps in my home. He suggested two likely issues:
- Stopcock is old and furred up inside.
- Pipes running between the meter and my house are thought to be 15mm copper and probably furred up after 60 years.
I'm tempted to get the stopcock replaced in the hope it might help and be a cheap and easy option, but am coming to terms with the fact that if I want good water flow in our home, that I will need to have the pipes replaced.
Would you agree with all this so far?
Problem: the pipe runs under 9m of nice, printed concrete driveway, installed by previous owners. So that will have to be ruined with a big trench and probably impossible to make good in the same colour. A load of destruction and god knows how much money. But I probably want this problem solving more than I care about the driveway...
Alternative:
The pipe currently goes into the bathroom along the side of the house, which is where the stop tap is. It could be possible to go into the front of the house instead meaning most of the driveway can be avoided. The house is a bungalow, so I assume the pipe could go up through the cavity and then through the attic to where the existing pipe circuit is. However, the rooms at the front are bedrooms, so there would need to be a stop tap in one of those, which would be a bit random. Also would mean causing a mess inside. Thoughts? Also do they allow a pipe to go up the outside if it is well insulated? This open up other possibilities.
Another alternative...
I am getting a side extension added soon and that will include a WC and utility at the front of the extension. Instead of replacing the existing pipe into the bathroom, and to avoid damage to the house, I could have the new pipe run to the new extension so it is all built in as the thing is constructed. This doesn't get around the driveway damage and in fact makes that slightly worse, with a c.12m run under the drive, but would mean the existing house can be left alone.
Thoughts?
Also... supposing I have a 32mm plastic pipe put under the driveway, is this going to help when it is the same old pipes within most of the house? Do those need replacing as well to get any benefit?
I need to be reasonably confident this is worthwhile before committing to the destruction and costs. Plus I'm guessing there will be hassle getting it connected since the meter is a little bit set back from the drive so a couple of feet of pathway to dig out...
One of my neighbours has the same crappy flow as me and he has had his driveway pipes replaced with 25mm plastic. However, he did explain that sections of it remain as 15mm copper for some reason so he presumably ends up limited by the narrowest bore? He also has the same old stop tap and internal pipework.
If I have the stop tap replaced, isn't there some way to blast a load of descaler through the system to clean out and improve flow?
I attach a plan showing existing run (red) and possible new one (blue). The freshwater pipe goes through the bathroom and into the small cupboard you can see where the combi boiler is. The pipes then go up through the ceiling and serve the kitchen at the back and small WC in front bedroom.
Myself and my neighbours are only getting 7.5l per minute cold water flow in our homes. This is rubbish. 15L or more is considered good, we are barely at half that. You can have a decent shower, but somebody running a tap in the kitchen interferes. The garden hose is a joke. I see this becoming more of an annoyance as my missus and I plan to have a family.
I called the water company and they agreed this is poor and sent somebody out. He found that the pressure at the back garden tap is 2.6 bars, which is more than adequate. The problem is with the flow of water. We then went to the meter at the front, just inside the highway from my driveway, and he found the same pressure but also that 23L per minute comes out at that point!
So it seems there is a problem between that point and the taps in my home. He suggested two likely issues:
- Stopcock is old and furred up inside.
- Pipes running between the meter and my house are thought to be 15mm copper and probably furred up after 60 years.
I'm tempted to get the stopcock replaced in the hope it might help and be a cheap and easy option, but am coming to terms with the fact that if I want good water flow in our home, that I will need to have the pipes replaced.
Would you agree with all this so far?
Problem: the pipe runs under 9m of nice, printed concrete driveway, installed by previous owners. So that will have to be ruined with a big trench and probably impossible to make good in the same colour. A load of destruction and god knows how much money. But I probably want this problem solving more than I care about the driveway...
Alternative:
The pipe currently goes into the bathroom along the side of the house, which is where the stop tap is. It could be possible to go into the front of the house instead meaning most of the driveway can be avoided. The house is a bungalow, so I assume the pipe could go up through the cavity and then through the attic to where the existing pipe circuit is. However, the rooms at the front are bedrooms, so there would need to be a stop tap in one of those, which would be a bit random. Also would mean causing a mess inside. Thoughts? Also do they allow a pipe to go up the outside if it is well insulated? This open up other possibilities.
Another alternative...
I am getting a side extension added soon and that will include a WC and utility at the front of the extension. Instead of replacing the existing pipe into the bathroom, and to avoid damage to the house, I could have the new pipe run to the new extension so it is all built in as the thing is constructed. This doesn't get around the driveway damage and in fact makes that slightly worse, with a c.12m run under the drive, but would mean the existing house can be left alone.
Thoughts?
Also... supposing I have a 32mm plastic pipe put under the driveway, is this going to help when it is the same old pipes within most of the house? Do those need replacing as well to get any benefit?
I need to be reasonably confident this is worthwhile before committing to the destruction and costs. Plus I'm guessing there will be hassle getting it connected since the meter is a little bit set back from the drive so a couple of feet of pathway to dig out...
One of my neighbours has the same crappy flow as me and he has had his driveway pipes replaced with 25mm plastic. However, he did explain that sections of it remain as 15mm copper for some reason so he presumably ends up limited by the narrowest bore? He also has the same old stop tap and internal pipework.
If I have the stop tap replaced, isn't there some way to blast a load of descaler through the system to clean out and improve flow?
I attach a plan showing existing run (red) and possible new one (blue). The freshwater pipe goes through the bathroom and into the small cupboard you can see where the combi boiler is. The pipes then go up through the ceiling and serve the kitchen at the back and small WC in front bedroom.
