Water pressure from shared supply

Domain.Rider

I have an old 2-up 2-down terrace house that shares a water supply with two neighbouring properties. The water system comprises a water softener which supplies cold water to the kitchen & bathroom and hot water to the kitchen & bathroom (both downstairs) via a demand boiler (no central heating, no tanks).

Due to the shared supply, the neighbour's water usage can make the water pressure vary unpredictably from reasonably good to very poor, which makes showering (electric shower) a gamble.

Is there a way to maintain a constant water pressure, at least to the shower, without paying the water company a fortune to run a separate supply to the house?

I thought about a tank in the attic or a pump, but don't know the issues...

EssexExile

A shower fed from a tank in the loft will give you constant pressure. If you like a powerful shower then it can be pumped. Make sure you get a big enough tank.

grumbler

If you like a powerful shower then it can be pumped.

It should. Showers on the first floor are typicaly disfunctional. Electric showers are so popular for a reason, despite being more expensive to run.

FreeBear

EssexExile wrote: »

A shower fed from a tank in the loft will give you constant low pressure

ftfy. The water pressure from a header tank will only be as good as the "head". Not bad on the ground floor, but pretty poor on the upper floor.
A decent pump would help with low pressure, but how well it would cope with a variable flow rate from a shared pipe is open to debate.

shaun_from_Africa

FreeBear wrote: »

ftfy. The water pressure from a header tank will only be as good as the "head". Not bad on the ground floor, but pretty poor on the upper floor.
A decent pump would help with low pressure, but how well it would cope with a variable flow rate from a shared pipe is open to debate.

A tank in the attic feeding an electric shower should be fine even if the shower is on an upper floor.
The tank would only be there to provide a constant water supply and it's the pump in the shower unit would be providing the pressure.

snowcat75

I live a mile from the main supply, which comes via a 32mm pipe, by the time it gets to me the Flow that's the important bit as pressure will eventually maintain is poor (bucket tested before I built the house at less than 6LPM)

I put I one these
excellent choice and I never have an issue with outlet flows or pressures even with multiple taps open. There are smaller and cheaper options.

Domain.Rider

Thanks all, that's some excellent food for thought.

With a tank in the loft, I wouldn't have a head problem as all water usage is on the ground floor.

The mains boost system looks interesting - presumably, it would go between the mains supply and the water softener. That would eliminate the disruption of installing a loft tank & pipework.

snowcat75

Domain.Rider wrote: »

Thanks all, that's some excellent food for thought.

With a tank in the loft, I wouldn't have a head problem as all water usage is on the ground floor.

The mains boost system looks interesting - presumably, it would go between the mains supply and the water softener. That would eliminate the disruption of installing a loft tank & pipework.

Yes just put it upstream of the mains entering the house. might be better after the softener, Stuart turner technical would advise.

EssexExile

snowcat75 wrote: »

Yes just put it upstream of the mains entering the house. might be better after the softener, Stuart turner technical would advise.

Agreed, Stuart Turner are very good at answering consumers' questions.

G_M

snowcat75 wrote: »

Yes just put it upstream of the mains entering the house. might be better after the softener, Stuart turner technical would advise.

If that's forcing mains water to the OP's property, what will it do to the neighbours' water pressure........?

Ectophile

G_M wrote: »

If that's forcing mains water to the OP's property, what will it do to the neighbours' water pressure........?

I can see a war between neighbours to see who can buy the pump with the strongest suck!