Plumbing the depths…..

Chunks

Have lived in my place since new (1986) and I have, over the years, suffered a number of plumbing issues. Anyway, my cold water supply in the loft has slowed recently by (I would guess) about 40%. I had a similar problem with the hot water supply about five years ago, which I cured by isolating a length of pipe (I guess was partially blocked) and rerunning some replacement pipe. Job done.

I suspect I have the same problem (rubbish now in the cold water pipe) but before going to the expense and faff of replacing wondered if you could reverse flush (with mains water - tap to tank, so to speak). Any thoughts guys? Are there any chemical solutions to flush pipe work?

many thanks in advance.

Cheers

Chunks

ormus

you may need to inspect the pipe first.
if its this bad, flushing either way, will not do a lot of good.

Chunks

Thanks ormus - that looks how I imagine my arteries are like…..

The loss of water pressure was sudden, like something that wasn’t there before being added to the equation. I have had all types of junk emerge from my pipe work including pea shingle… Hoping I hit a seam of gold soon so I can afford to have the whole mess ripped out and replaced!

cheers,

Chunks

Canucklehead

Hi,

Ormus's photo is of a central heating pipe with all the sludge and rust deposits.

What type of plumbing system do you have? I shall assume a standard storage tank/cylinder arrangement.

You are, I assume, talking about the domestic side of your system ,as in the water that actually runs out of your taps.

You might mean that the water main to your storage tank has slowed by 40% ie the ballvalve supply. That would suggest a new washer or it's blocked.
If you mean the water FROM your storage tank, ie cold water down service, then you might have a blocked stopcock from the tank. Have you checked for debris in the tank itself?
You can use chlorine type chemicals or DS3 if you have the time and money to spend.

Or you might have a rubbish type of domestic system like a thermal store.

GSR

Chunks

Canucklehead wrote: »

Hi,

What type of plumbing system do you have? I shall assume a standard storage tank/cylinder arrangement.

Yes it's cold water fed from the tank in the loft with hot water supplied via a cylinder.

Canucklehead wrote: »

If you mean the water FROM your storage tank, ie cold water down service, then you might have a blocked stopcock from the tank. Have you checked for debris in the tank itself?

Yes. The tank is full and the ball valve is working normally. Have some scale in the bottom of the tank but it's well away from the outlet/supply pipe. Maybe scale has got drawn into the system....

Would the chemicals mention remove such a partial (scale) blockage?

appreciate your help here,

cheers

PS. Mine is defo a rubbish system but I don't know if it's a thermal store (I am guessing not).

Chunks

ormus

ch or h/c supply pipes, the result can be much the same.

although i admit that if the problem came on sudden like, then a debris blockage from inside the CWS is more likely.
im assuming the cws inlet valve is working ok?

WhiteHorse

Chunks wrote: »

The loss of water pressure was sudden, like something that wasn’t there before being added to the equation. I have had all types of junk emerge from my pipe work including pea shingle …

It was sudden?

This sounds more like the water company have been doing some mains works somewhere. Sand, mud, and small stones are typical contaminants.

Canucklehead

Hi,

So you have a tank full of cold water and it fills normally.

The cold down service from there is a 22mm copper tube?

It has a stopcock or similar valve somewhere ,maybe near the cylinder?

The 40% loss of water is evident at .... one cold tap, 2 cold taps or all cold taps?

Your hot water is running as it should?

Ormus... do you get that amount of scale in a cold down service?


GSR

keystone

Has your CWST got a lid on it? If not have a look inside and see if theres loads of carp in there. Chances are that the outlet is blocked.

Has your Water Utility been doing work in your vicinity recently? That might well account for the gravel.

Cheers

Canucklehead

keystone wrote: »

Has your CWST got a lid on it? If not have a look inside and see if theres loads of carp in there. Chances are that the outlet is blocked.

Has your Water Utility been doing work in your vicinity recently? That might well account for the gravel.

Cheers

See post No. 5.

Chunks

Sorry chaps have been elsewhere. Thanks for all contributions.

Mine is a cold water supply issue that now affects all elements that are supplied via the loft tank (which is full and operating normally incidentally) i.e cold water in bathroom/en suite and toilets.

To recap, supply was normal one day then reduced the next..... It wasn't a case of slow loss of pressure so I am ruling out the ormus route (sorry, but good idea).

I live in a very hard water area (East Herts) and suspect that rubbish has entered the system affecting the flow. First idea is to flush the system with mains water (force the junk back into the loft tank) but since I would need to do this on the first floor, I am assuming it wont work - mains pressure too low. Plan B is a chemical solution to clear the blockage (I am guessing it's scale). Third, would be a pipe replacement - in part (but that is what i want to avoid) due to faff and cost!

Thoughts guys?