Andy Lazenby has contacted me regarding getting a good shower in a high rise flat. Andy is typical of many who lives in flats and the pressure is poor. A ShowerPowerBooster is the solution. This blog goes through a typical thought process in solving the problem.
Question
I live in a high rise (Level 26) apartment.
The mains water is fed up the tower and pressure controlled every 5 or 6 floors.
The inlet piping is 1” and the line runs the full length of my apartment in ceiling (approx. 30m)
Branches out to the 2 bathrooms, the water flow to the showers is very low.
I did install side showers when I contracted the builders, but they are redundant as the flow is too low.
The issue is not so much the pressure, but the flow.
I am interested in the pressure boost system, but not sure if it will do the job. I have room in the ceiling space to fit the pump…I was thinking I may need a tank as well. ??
Can you please advise.
I am also planning to enlarge the main piping runs to 40mm, but the initial offtake will remain at 25mm(1”)
Many thanks
Andy Lazenby
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A SP21S fitted on the incoming water feed should sort it.
There is a blog dealing with boosting a water supply into your house.
The pipe arrangement is the same for any water feed into a home and obviously if you can fit both pipes on a straight pipe without needing bends all the better.
https://showerpowerbooster.co.uk/blog/boosting-low-water-mains-pressure/
There are a number of misconceptions on how to boost water pressure and dealing with the individual points raised:-
Should I increase the size of pipes?
The very minimum size of a pipe to feed a shower is 10mm and 15mm is standard for a shower feed.
The head loss is determined by the speed of the water flowing through your pipes which is determined by the cross sectional area of your pipe. The area of flow within the pipe is proportional to the square of the radius of the pipe. The area and flow increases in the following ratios:-
10mm, ratio 100
15mm, ratio 225
22mm, ratio 484
25mm, ratio 625
40mm, ratio 1,600
DO NOT enlarge the main piping run to 40mm. The head loss in a 15mm pipe is so very low that the 25mm pipe you have is already an overkill. In some cases more is less and the speed of flow in your 25mm pipes will be so low that you might even have air locks. With air locks you can get less flow than you would with a 15mm pipe so replacing the 25mm pipe with a 15mm pipe will help.
Click on the link below to see the latest ShowerPowerBooster Information Manual.
