Lousy water pressure at home

[KeithB]

I have lived in the inner west of Sydney for about 35 years and it seems that, in the last ten years, the mains water pressure has got progressively worse. The neighbours say the same thing. Even a loo cistern filling up while someone is in the shower is a problem.
So I have been looking at the Davey Catalogue to see if they can supply a booster pump. But it looks like all the pumps are for gravity fed or well-supplied systems.
Has anyone put in a pump like this or perhaps can offer some advice?

[MDS69]

Sorry no advise to fix your issue but I would say the water board has probably reduced pressure to take the strain off the ageing infrastructure so they have no blown pipes in the street.

[Hoyks]

A pump will boost the pressure, but it still needs the volume to push. If it can't suck the volume of water through the pipe from the mains, then the volume and pressure it will supply to the house will be limited. This can lead to cavitation in the pump which will damage it in the long term.

If it is an old house, the supply issue could be down to old galvanized water pipes that get internal corrosion, this blocks them up over time so the volume that can supply is limited. I have had it on some fittings that were badly clogged, so now I have poly fittings in the system. In old houses with gal pipe, this type of cancer can be all the way from the meter and everywhere in the walls and it costs a lot to replace it all.


http://www.single-family-home-remodeling.com/galvanized-pipe.html

It could also be that the infrastructure is getting older, so Sydney Water is turning down the pressure to reduce the risk of them blowing a main.

I live in a rural area, but we also have town water. The town water pressure was hopeless, so 80% of the time we run off rain water from the tanks and pump.

I have plumbed it in so that I can fill the tank from town water during the day when no one really needs water and then run pump to draw from the tanks when we need the water volume (showers, washing and baths). The feeble water pressure takes over a day to fill the small tank and then we get over 2 weeks out of that.

..... And then after 3 years they came and replaced my water meter and all the issues were cured , although then new ones appeared as the increased pressure blew out crappy corroded joiners in my front yard , and I also started getting water bills

If you had the time and the $$ to throw at the problem, you could install a small (2000L tank) in the back yard that is filled from the mains with a ball cock so it only filled to the required level. From this install a pump to supply the house with full pressure water when you want is. Get a pump with a pressure tank so you get full pressure from the moment you crack the tap. I don't have one, so crack the tap and I get full pressure, then it tapers off a bit until the pump kicks in and back to full pressure again. A minor inconvenience really.

[kylarama]

If it is an old house, the supply issue could be down to old galvanized water pipes that get internal corrosion, this blocks them up over time so the volume that can supply is limited.

This was the case with my previous house. Buit in the early 70's and the gal pipe from the meter to all through under the house was corroded badly.

All the pipework in the walls was copper.  So replaced everything from the meter to under the house with poly.  Cost wasn't too bad, cause I did all the donkey work and a plumber mate did the connections.

Difference was chalk and cheese. With water pressure.



Sent from my GT-I9507 using Tapatalk

[briann532]

Give Exceptional plumbing a call.
You won't find a better plumber.
He will have the best answer for you.

[muzza01]

How old is your water meter. Some of the newer meters have restritors in them. Perhaps you could remove it from the meter. I know someone who did this to their meter who lived in Sydenys far west.
 

[glenm64]

You could fit an accumulator after a pump. It acts like a pressure reservoir. Available in different sizes.
Heres an example.
http://www.pumpwarehouse.com.au/pressure-tanks/



Cheers Glen

[KeithB]

The house is only about 25 years old and I think we are all copper. will check the meter before we do anything. But I think the comments about the lousy pressure in the street might be spot on.
I have found a booster pump that Grundfos make, but it's pricey.

[jj]

I work on the south coast for our local water authority. It may be on the water board's side. Older tapping bands (the part that connects to the there water main under the ground) can silt up.  We take the meter out and work the main cock (on the water main that we can turn off to work between our main and your meter). We turn it on and off then tap a few times. Repeat this a few times and you can see the crud come out and the water flow improve out of the meter cock (part at your house that you can turn the water off). We also have most of our mains on the kerb, not in the road so a bit easier to do. Unsure of Sydney's policy but if someone rings up about poor pressure this is usually the solution.  Although at times this may result in the main cock jamming altogether which means turning off the street and replacing the whole tapping band and main cock. If you have the meter out you'll soon see how much flow you have. If it comes out of the meter cock good that means it's your problem unfortunately. By the way we don't have pumps in our system it is all gravity fed. Hope this makes a bit of sense to you!

[KeithB]

Great advice. Thank you.
Keith