Factsheets - Water pressure

Whilst all advice given is correct to the best of our knowledge, we cannot be held responsible for any problems should you choose to take our advice.

Select from the following:

Plumbing Glossary
Emergency plumbing
How to disconnect a washing machine
Mould in Bathrooms and Showers
Taps and Shower Valves
Earth Bonding
Preparing for Winter
Power Showering in Flats
Buying a Bathroom Suite
Advice when doing building work
Water Pressure
Pressure and Stored Hot water
Flow and Pressure
Water Softeners
Boiler Breakdowns
Gas Rating
Asbestos Awareness

Thames water is reducing pressure. This is mostly to meet its obligations to reduce the loss of water through waters leakage from the mains.

When the pressure drops plumbing systems that are fed directly from the mains are affected. Systems with tanks in the roof are not as your pressure is the height of the tank above the outlet you use.

If you are suffering from pressure problems call us. We are experts in this field

We will come out and carry out a consultation with you help you decide what options are available to solve your problem.

Our consultation costs £80 + VAT and is carried out by one of our senior engineers.

There are several approaches to the problem and all these will be discussed.

The plumbing configuration that you have will be reviewed and dynamic pressure and flow tests carried out.

You will be issued with a written report and estimate for any works that might be proposed

Call 020 7 666 5566 to book your appointment.

Please note it is possible that no viable solution may be available.

Further Information:

Insufficient pressure in an installation:

You need a pumped solution.

A Booster Set provides both high pressure and increased flow rates. A booster set contains a tank holding water for ten minutes of consumption and a pumo. The tank provides the volume of water to deal with the flow, the pump provides to pressure.

There is also a new solution being developed using a small pump to increase the pressure and an accumulator (see below)

Low flow rate, but sufficient static pressure on the mains:

If you have enough pressure (we will ascertain this) you can use an accumulator which holds your cold water at the mains pressure with no power consumption, so the larger the better.

View our Factsheets on the following related topics:

Power Showering in Flats
Pressure and Stored Hot water
Flow and Pressure

Ofwat, The Water Regulator

The Office of Water Services (Ofwat) www.ofwat.gov.uk . are the economic regulator for water and sewerage services in England and Wales . Ofwat says: "Leakage is still unacceptably high in London and we have set Thames Water a target of reducing this to a cost-effective level by 2009-10".

What standard are the companies legally obliged to meet?
Companies are required to supply water constantly and at a pressure which will reach the upper floors of houses. This does not apply to buildings that use pumped systems, such as blocks of flats.

Ofwat require water companies to perform to the service indicator DG2 which states that "the water pressure must be 1 bar or ten metres head of pressure, at the external stop tap, at a flow of nine litres per minute. This should be sufficient to fill a one-gallon (4.5 litre) container in 30 seconds. This level of pressure does not override the duty to supply water constantly at a pressure to reach the upper floors of properties".

Read what they say about water pressure

Our Comment

In the USA , Australia , and Continental Europe the pressure usually delivered from the mains is in excess of 2 bar. The pressure of a power shower is about 2.5 bar, so in these countries you will get great pressure from the mains to run virtually any appliance shower or tap. Not so in England , One bar of pressure only reaches up 10 metres or 3 floors approximately. This is very poor pressure and not sufficient to drive most modern taps and showers.

If you have a Combination boiler or "Megaflo" system, which is directly pressured from the mains, you may well find that that you will notice has been a reduction in pressure. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about this as you not allowed to pump from the mains.

There are various solutions to this problem ranging from pumped booster sets, through accumulators some other mains pumping solutions that are being developed at the moment. All take up space and cost money. We are experts in this field and are able to suggest the best and most cost effective solution to these problems.

We are delighted to offer a consultation if you are experiencing pressure problems.