How to increase water flow in your home or business

Here at Chez Green we have extraordinarily high water pressure.

It’s the sort of pressure that wreaks showers and tankless water heaters in a few years.

But friends of mine suffer with the opposite – water that dribbles out of their taps and shower heads.

There can be many reasons for low water pressure, but the five most common are listed below:

1. The main supply is coming with reduced pressure, or several homes / businesses in the same area are using the water at once. If this happens the water gets divided, and reaches each site with less pressure.

2. The water tank, taps and pipes are not set apart at a proper distance. For example, the water tank is less elevated compared to the taps and pipes, which prevents proper flow of water.

3. There might be a leakage in the pipes which is leading to reduced water pressure.

4. The pressure regulator installed has stopped functioning properly and is not regulating water at optimal pressure.

5. The pipes may be blocked due to a barrier, causing the low water pressure problem.

Whilst we all want to do our bit to conserve water, I know how frustrating it can be to have to wait ages to fill a bath. In my parents house the water flow is so slow the bath is going cold by the time it’s filling. So that’s no better for the environment than water that comes out too quickly because you need to either heat the room or use more and more hot water!

Here are measures you can take to improve water flow. You’ll need to identify whether the low pressure problem is from the main source or from inside your home:

1. Replace the pressure regulator with water booster systems in your house or business site. The purpose of these pumps is to increase the pressure of the incoming water, which would improve the flow of water.

2. Find and fix the leaks present in your water piping system, which are preventing the water to flow properly. You need to do this anyway if you’re wanting to conserve our precious resource.

3. Installation of boiler feeds is another option available to you. Boiler feeds feature pumps which help in increasing the pressure of the water being emitted.

4. A condensate return system provides an effective way of increasing the water pressure. The main purpose of the condensate return system is to return the condensate accumulating back to the boiler from where it is emitted. However, condensate return system is also coupled with water pressure pumps, maintaining the pressure of the outgoing condensate which can be used for advantage, especially if your business is located at an industry site.

5. Clean the pipes, taps and showerheads to remove the accumulating salts and limescale. This will also help in keeping the water pressure within the required range.

What about you – what sort of water pressure do you have at your home or business? Is it a problem to you on a day to day basis?