mains water pressure

[Kath65]

We have recently installed a closed pressurized system (magaflo ), in order to support our 2 new bathrooms with decent water pressure.
While pressure is generally not great, between 6-9 am it is considerably worse.
Our plumber believes this is due to increased demand in the neighbourhood during this time.
We were under the impression the mageflo is the thing to overcome such fluctuations.
Is this incorrect?
Can anything be done, ie a pump installed additionally to such a system?
Our boiler is a brand new Vaillant ecoTec.
Thanks for any advice you might have
Kath

 

[grahamgas]

Kath
Were there no measurements taken before the cylinder and boiler were installed?What pressur e do you have on the incoming main.Also flow rate is a big factor.

As to whether you can have a pump, yes you can.You can do this by fitting what is called an accumulator.
I know Grundfos do one that is called, I think the home booster.

Hope this helps

Graham

 

[Bernie2]

Hmm!

All a Megaflow is is a cylinder that works off mains water pressure. In simple terms if you ain't got the flow and pressure on the incoming mains it ain't going to come out of the Megaflow regardless of the Megaflows stated flow rate.

Its a bit like saying if you fill a bucket with two pints of water a minute, you can't get four pints a minute out of the bucket regardless of what size bucket it is.

You can improve things of course, basically by getting the mains water to fill a tank/accumulator first and then pump the water out of the tank at a higher pressure and flow rate than the mains into the Megaflow. But I must say they are usually expensive. You can't put a pump directly onto the water main in the UK, you might suck the guy next door down the pipe.

Incidentally the max minimum mains water pressure supplied by utility companies is usually only about 9litres a minute at 7 meters pressure (1 bar is about 10 meters) If you have got more than that your fortunate.

 

[WaterTight]

Incidentally the max minimum mains water pressure supplied by utility companies is usually only about 9litres a minute at 7 meters pressure (1 bar is about 10 meters) If you have got more than that your fortunate.

Are you saying the average main pressure is less than 1 bar? Doesn't sound right...

 

[justlead1]

Well Kath it ain't going to get better. With the change from water bye laws to regulations, the need for the storage of water in cisterns positioned in the roof space of properties it no longer a requirement. Although it has allowed savings on installation, the performance of systems that are directly mains feed are effected by hydrolics of the main supply. Which in turn is effected by demand and whether you live at the top of a hill or bottom, coupled with the fact that this type of system is being rolled out accross the country, adding more immediate demand on the infrastructure. Rural areas may not be effected so much but densely populated cities and towns have got the worst to come. Take the advise given, an accumulator will buy more time. Good Luck

 

[Bernie2]

Hi! Watertight,

The minimum pressure and flow standards are really 10 metres (1bar) and 9 litres a minute.

But that is only to the utility companies stop tap at the property boundary.

By the time it gets in the house you can knock off at least a metre or more. Although admittedly knocking off 3 metres is perhaps a bit much, unless you have a great big long service pipe.

But you can knock off about a metre from the position of the service pipe in the bottom of the pipe trench and the resistance in the odd bend here and there to the inside floor level usually in the Kitchen where the main come's in.

I should have checked it out more thouroghly on the OFWAT site and not been lazy copying the 7 metres figure off somebody elses mail, sorry about that.

They are OFWAT's minimum water supply pressure and flow standards that the water companies are usually obliged to supply. In other words you can't insist they increase it beyond that.

Its why Plumbers should check site conditions at different times of day, to see if Megaflows, combis, electric showers and the likes are suitable.