Get In Touch With Pumping Solutions
A Guide To Low Water Pressure & Water Booster Pumps
If your property suffers from low water pressure, you’ll know how inconvenient it can be. Whether it’s your home or your business premises, you need to ensure that you have a reliable and suitable amount of pressure. But what should you do if your pressure is too low? In this article, we’ve taken a look at some of the common reasons for low water pressure and how water booster pumps may be able to help.
What Causes Low Water Pressure?
Low water pressure can be caused by a number of issues. Below, we’ve included some of the most common reasons why your property may be suffering from compromised water pressure.
Clogged Fittings
If you find that only certain fittings aren’t running as you’d expect, it may be that your fittings are clogged and need clearing out. You may be able to do this yourself if you’re confident in doing so, or a plumber may need to be called.
Inadequate Pipes
Having old pipes that have developed a build-up over the years, or having pipes that aren’t wide enough can cause your pressure to drop. The reduced size of the pipes means that not enough water can travel through them and they may need replacing.
Water Quality
Contaminants in water, such as calcium and iron, can cause a build-up in pipes and fittings. Having your water tested will highlight any of these issues and solutions can be put in place to remedy them.
Gravity
Sometimes your water pressure problems can simply be caused by gravity. If you have a tall building, your mains water supply may be struggling to provide adequate pressure to your upper floors. Similarly, if you use a private water supply, your well pump may be struggling to distribute water around your property. In this instance, a water booster pump may be the answer.
What Is A Water Booster Pump?
Issues like poor performing showers and toilets that fill up slowly are signs that a water booster pump may be needed. However, before installing water pumps to help fix the problem, it’s always important to check that the low water pressure isn’t due to another factor like clogged pipes.
A water booster pump is designed to aid water flow in systems that lack pressure. Typically, this is used to push water to the upper floors of tall buildings, ensuring adequate pressure on every floor.
The water booster pump can be so powerful it can even allow you to use water from a well in your house instead of mains water supplies.
The size, type, and number of pumps that are required will vary depending on the size of the building and also the number of users. This is something that your pump installation company will advise you of during the survey.
How Does A Water Booster Pump Work?
There are many types of pumps, but the most common type used in water distribution is the centrifugal pump, so we’ll focus on this.
A centrifugal pump is operated by a motor that spins an impeller inside the pump. The spinning of the impeller adds velocity to the water, causing it to be pushed around the casing of the pump and through the outlet pipe.
The spinning motion has the added function of sucking water from the inlet into the pump, ensuring a steady stream of water throughout the system. This process is demonstrated in the animation below.
How to Keep Your Pump Working Efficiently?
Since water pumps aren’t usually installed somewhere you would see them every day, they can sometimes be neglected until it’s too late and something breaks. This can be avoided by having a regular maintenance plan which will keep the system running efficiently.
To request a survey to assess your building’s low water pressure give us a call on 01775 711960. We cover the whole of the UK and can assist with all types of water systems, including bespoke solutions.
Did you find this article helpful? Discover more articles like this in our blog, or check out our sevices page to see how we can help you!