Looking To Test Your Home Water Pressure? Here’s How!

Do you think the level of water pressure in your home could be improved? Want to know how to test your H2O pressure and how you could fix it depending on the system you have in your home? Carry on reading.

We have outline possible symptoms of low pressure so you can decipher if your home is suffering from this problem.

• Does your toilet cistern take long to re-fill? A toilet cistern holds 7.5 litres of water and should take no longer than 1 minute 40 seconds to fill. If you hear your toilet filling for longer than this, it could be a sign of poor water pressure.
• Does the water from your shower go to a dribble when someone in your home turns on a tap or flushes the toilet? For the people that have an electric shower, does your shower cut off when a toilet is flushed? Electric showers have a safety mechanism that shuts off the shower pump when the water pressure drops below its desired setting.
• Does your bath seem to take longer than it should to fill? A standard house hold bath holds up to 80 litres of water and should take approximately 5 minutes to fill.

If any of the above symptoms ring true with your home, you may want to think about carrying out a water pressure test or call Plumbcare.com for a free quote and survey.

How to carry out a water pressure test yourself.

To test your home water pressure all you need is a measuring jug (1-2 litre jug) and a timer, modern smartphones usually have this function in the settings. Next, follow these 3 simple steps:

Step 1: Get a 1-2 litre jug and a timer (you can usually find one on most smartphones). Step 2: Set the timer to 6 seconds and run your water on full into the jug, stopping it when the 6 seconds is up. Step 3: Now multiply the volume of water in litres (eg 0.9 litres) by 10. This will give you your flow rate in litres per minute – ie 0.9 litres in 6 seconds equals 9 litres per minute. Anything less than 10 litres per minute is considered low. 10 – 15 litres per minute is ok but could potentially be improved. 15+ litres per minute is considered good.

If you have low water pressure call Plumbcare.com for a survey

How to fix low water pressure in your home.

To fix low water pressure in your home you need to know what type of system you’re using in your home. there are three types of systems, a Gravity Fed system, Combi Boiler and a Unvented system. Here’s a brief look at each system and how to spot the differences between them:

Gravity Fed System –

These are normally used in older properties, if you live in an older house that hasn’t been renovated you’re more than likely going to have a gravity fed system. This is known as a low pressure system

Do you have;

• A cold water storage tank in the loft or roof space?
• A large hot water cylinder? (Usually located in the airing cupboard, it will be a large copper cylinder that will have an insulated coating on the outside.)

If your answer is YES to the above questions, you know you have a gravity fed system. To solve low pressure with this type of system you will need to add a water pump or re-new your system for a modern economical system. Call Plumbcare.com for a quotation, we will come out to your property to carry out a quote and survey of your existing system.

Combi Boiler –

These types of systems are very common, a combination boiler will take its water source from the mains water located outside of your property, feeding into your home through a pipe. Many homes choose a combi boiler when looking to save space in their homes

Do you have;

• A wall hung boiler? (Usually located in the kitchen on an exterior wall.)
• Hot water on demand? (There is no switching on an immersion heater and waiting an hour to produce warm water for a shower or bath.)
• No storage tank? (As above you normally find these in a cupboard. To save space a combi boiler doesn’t use a water cylinder freeing the space in your cupboard.)

To solve low water pressure issue on a combi boiler you will need to add a water pump to the mains water feed. Contact Plumbcare.com to come out to your property and give you a free survey and quotation for the work.

Unvented System –

These systems use a separate hot water cylinder to store your homes hot water supply straight from the mains supply. As the unvented system stores hot water under high pressure these systems are normally used to carry your hot water to a loft conversion etc

Do you have;

• White metal cylinder? (This holds the water under pressure, usually insulated so doesn’t feel warm to the touch.)
• Do you have a separate boiler system?
• You won’t have a cold water storage tank located in a loft or high place in your home.

To solve a low water pressure problem with an unvented system you will need to add an additional water pump to push the water circulation around your system. Contact Plumbcare.com to carry out a survey and provide a free quotation for your system.