Pre-installation
Mains Water – Busting the Myths
Low water pressure is very common across the UK, in fact 40%* of households report that low water pressure has an impact on their day-to-day lives. But it’s not just homeowners that low water pressure can be problematic for.
Indeed, for homeowners, low shower pressure and trickling taps are common ways low water pressure can affect their day-to-day life. But, for installers, it could mean that they may not have the flow rates necessary for the product or system they were planning to install.
Boosting the flow and pressure from a home’s incoming mains supply can be a fairly simple solution to these problems, yet there remain a few common misconceptions around mains boosting in the industry.
Our Training Manager, Mike Oxley, explains how to easily boost a mains water supply, whilst also putting a few false rumours surrounding the subject to bed.
Can you boost mains water?
There is a common misconception that you cannot boost a home’s mains water supply. However, this is not the case.
The Water Supply and Fittings Regulations state that you can boost mains water if the pumped mains water does not exceed 12 litres per minute (l/min).
In many cases, households can experience a flow rate much lower than 12l/min. In these instances, the incoming mains water flow can be increased using a mains booster pump, such as our CombiBoost pump which will increase mains water flow to 10 l/min or HomeBoost which will boost mains water to 12l/min.
How do you boost beyond 12l/min?
There are still ways to increase the mains water flow to beyond 12l/min, whilst still complying with the water regulations.
Larger homes, or homes that require a lot of outlets to run at once, will more than likely demand more than the 12l/min limit. So to achieve this, the best option is to install an accumulator vessel, such as our AccuBoost range which can provide up to 36l/min per vessel.
This method of increasing water flow complies with the regulations, as the vessels store cold water at pressure within the home which provides the additional water flow around the home.
Pumped accumulator vessels also store cold water at pressure which adds additional water to the mains flow, but the pump ensures that the mains flow is maintained at a minimum of 12 l/min.
