M
Myfanwy
Hi - I am looking for advice on the correct pump to buy to resolve a water pressure problem.
Our water is provided from a well on the hill above the house, which feeds a storage tank which sits about 25m away from the house and about 6m in height from the ground floor - this is about level with the roof of the house.
Water comes in under gravity from the storage tank, down the hill and then up to a header tank in the house, which is situated in the attic. The pipe is 32mm (probably internal diameter of about 25mm)
[The header tank feeds a hot water cylinder heated by both Rayburn and immersion heater. Both hot and cold water are pumped from the header tank and hot water cylinder to the whole house by a twin pump (except the cold feed to the kitchen which comes directly from outside - pressure isn't a problem at this tap).]
Our problem is that the header tank in the attic and the storage tank on the hill are so close in height that water comes in under extremely low pressure, meaning that the header tank fills very very slowly. This isn't a problem most of the time, but if a lot of water is used at once - any time the bath is filled, for example - the water is pumped from the header tank at a much faster rate than it comes in and the system runs out of water.
I know the best solution would be to move everything down a level, but that is a costly option and there isn't really any space. What we're thinking of is a fix where we would install a pump to increase the pressure of water coming into the house - essentially, it would be pumping water from one tank (the storage tank outside) to another (the header tank in the attic).
My questions are:
1. Which pump should we buy to do this? (a pump with dry-run protection would be best as there are occasionally problems with the water supply)
2. Would it be better to site the pump in the attic, or downstairs where the water enters the house?
3. The header tank currently has a ball cock and I think the pump might be fighting against this as it closes slowly. Can anyone recommend a better valve, that we could fit to the existing tank, that would shut off instantly rather than gradually? (Ideally we would like something that would only call for water when the level in the header tank dropped to a certain point, to prevent the pump running constantly.)
I'd be grateful for any suggestions (though 'rip it out and start again' might make me bang my head against the wall).
Our water is provided from a well on the hill above the house, which feeds a storage tank which sits about 25m away from the house and about 6m in height from the ground floor - this is about level with the roof of the house.
Water comes in under gravity from the storage tank, down the hill and then up to a header tank in the house, which is situated in the attic. The pipe is 32mm (probably internal diameter of about 25mm)
[The header tank feeds a hot water cylinder heated by both Rayburn and immersion heater. Both hot and cold water are pumped from the header tank and hot water cylinder to the whole house by a twin pump (except the cold feed to the kitchen which comes directly from outside - pressure isn't a problem at this tap).]
Our problem is that the header tank in the attic and the storage tank on the hill are so close in height that water comes in under extremely low pressure, meaning that the header tank fills very very slowly. This isn't a problem most of the time, but if a lot of water is used at once - any time the bath is filled, for example - the water is pumped from the header tank at a much faster rate than it comes in and the system runs out of water.
I know the best solution would be to move everything down a level, but that is a costly option and there isn't really any space. What we're thinking of is a fix where we would install a pump to increase the pressure of water coming into the house - essentially, it would be pumping water from one tank (the storage tank outside) to another (the header tank in the attic).
My questions are:
1. Which pump should we buy to do this? (a pump with dry-run protection would be best as there are occasionally problems with the water supply)
2. Would it be better to site the pump in the attic, or downstairs where the water enters the house?
3. The header tank currently has a ball cock and I think the pump might be fighting against this as it closes slowly. Can anyone recommend a better valve, that we could fit to the existing tank, that would shut off instantly rather than gradually? (Ideally we would like something that would only call for water when the level in the header tank dropped to a certain point, to prevent the pump running constantly.)
I'd be grateful for any suggestions (though 'rip it out and start again' might make me bang my head against the wall).
