Water pressure problem

[bfmonaghan]

Hi all - I hope that I can get some help with a water pressure problem I have.

Background is that I bought a 1907 farmhouse last year and, during the winter had frozen supply pipes into the house. The mains supply is cast iron until it hits our boundary, then turns to 32mm MDPE as it runs across the front of the house. A number of 25mm MDPE spurs then come off the 32 mm - not an ideal situation, but it's what we inherited:
Spur 1 - garden tap
Spur 2 - groundfloor bathroom, then up to loft tanks and upstairs bathroom
Spur 3 - groundfloor kitchen tap, dishwasher and washing machine
Spur 4 - garage tap
Spur 5 - another garden tap.

Spurs 2 and 3 feed the house and, after a bit of digging, we found that the 25mm MDPE joined to 15mm copper a couple of feet outside the house. So, I've been taking the 25mm MDPE all the way into the house in shalloduct insulation to make sure we get through this winter without frozen supplies.

After upgrading the spurs, we've seriously increased the water pressure and flow rate on spur 2. But spur 3 (the kitchen tap) has retained its pretty poor pressure and flow rate. We've thoroughly tested the connectors and don't think we've any leaks. The only connector that I haven't seen is the 32mm to 25mm joining on spur 3.

So, I'd be grateful if anyone has any thoughts on why I've different water pressures. The pressure in the upstairs bathroom (fed by spur 2) is much better than the kitchen tap (spur 3), so it doesn't appear to be a height issue. If there was a leak somewhere, I thought that would affect all the feeds to the house. I haven't tested the kitchen tap yet, and think that might be a possibility.

All thoughts or comments gratefully appreciated.

Brian

 

[ChrisOxford]

My money would be on the kitchen tap

 

[Space cat]

If there was a leak somewhere, I thought that would affect all the feeds to the house.

You're right; it would. If you had the means to measure it, I'm sure you'd find that the static pressure in the kitchen was fine. What you have is pressure drop due to restricted flow somewhere between the 32mm pipe and the tap spout. This may sound obvious but we once had the same problem after the pipes in our street were upgraded. A Northumbria Water engineer came out, stuck a pressure meter on a tap and declared that there was nothing wrong with our supply.

My money would be on the kitchen tap

That's a distinct possibility. Do you get decent flow at the dishwasher and washing machine?

 

[bfmonaghan]

Thanks Chris and Space Cat

Have measured flow rate at the dishwasher (2.4l in 10 seconds) and at the tap (1.0l in 10 seconds).

So, looks like a tap repair or a new one is on the cards.

Thanks for the replies.

Brian