Can I reduce ALL my inbound water pressure?

Hi all. I want to save a bit of dosh. So I am wondering if there is such a thing as a pressure-reducer which I can attach to my water supply at entry to my house.

All my hot water is gravity-fed and showers are not an issue. So, as i'd rather have a 'trickle' than a 'gush'. Can anyone recommend a solution?

TIA.

H.

Reply to
HowieC
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Yes.

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Reply to
Onetap

If you want to reduce the amount of water you are using, then you need to reduce the flow, not the pressure, this can be done by simply turning your main stop-c*ck off a bit.

I assume you must have a water meter for this to be a cost factor, if so, you will probaby find a stop c*ck near this.

If you are trying to reduce the amount used at the kitchen sink, then you may find an isolation valve under there, you can turn this down without then affecting the time to refill any toilet cisterns or loft tanks you have connected to the mains supply.

Toby...

Reply to
Toby

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look on Ebay "pressure reducing valve" - I have just listed an old unused one I have had laying around for years.

Reply to
robert

Can't you just turn the mains tap down a bit?

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:42:28 +0100 someone who may be HowieC wrote this:-

So, reducing the pressure of the water supply will make no difference to these, other than to probably increase the time the storage tank takes to fill.

What sort of showers are they?

Whether the toilets are connected to the mains or storage tank decreasing the mains pressure will not change the volume of water they take.

Are the non-kitchen taps connected to the mains or the storage tank?

For decreasing the use of water in the toilet the first step is something like .

The next step is to use rainwater in toilets and for clothes washing (cold feed).

Reply to
David Hansen

That will limit the flow, but the pressure when nothing is running will be the same. Depends whether he's trying to control use, or stop leaks!

Andy

Reply to
Andy Champ

|>All my hot water is gravity-fed | |So, reducing the pressure of the water supply will make no |difference to these, other than to probably increase the time the |storage tank takes to fill.

Yes. That's fine.

|>and showers are not an issue. | |What sort of showers are they?

Mixers. Gravity-fed (hot). Mains (cold). I do have one shower which is a thermostatic mains. But if it doesn't work with reduced pressure and flow I will be changing it.

|Whether the toilets are connected to the mains or storage tank |decreasing the mains pressure will not change the volume of water |they take.

Understood.

|Are the non-kitchen taps connected to the mains or the storage tank?

Mains.

|For decreasing the use of water in the toilet the first step is |something like . | |The next step is to use rainwater in toilets and for clothes washing |(cold feed).

Yes. That's my next task.

Thanks (to everyone) for the replies.

Reply to
HowieC

|> All my hot water is gravity-fed and showers are not an issue. So, |> as i'd rather have a 'trickle' than a 'gush'. Can anyone |> recommend a solution? |>

|> TIA. |>

|> H. | |If you want to reduce the amount of water you are using, then you need to |reduce the flow, not the pressure, this can be done by simply turning your |main stop-c*ck off a bit.

Yes. done this. But I still get a fast flow from the cold taps. I'm fairly sure that reducing mains pressure will reduce the volume of water used per second. Is this not so?

Reply to
HowieC

Then turn it down further. Since it can cut off the supply it follows you can reduce the flow to what suits you.

I'm trying to think of what circumstances warrants this? Are people in your household leaving water running unnecessarily? But it seems to me few would do this with high pressure and the tap full on - they'd get splashed with water.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

|In article , | HowieC wrote: |> |If you want to reduce the amount of water you are using, then you need |> |to reduce the flow, not the pressure, this can be done by simply |> |turning your main stop-c*ck off a bit. | |> Yes. done this. But I still get a fast flow from the cold taps. | |Then turn it down further. Since it can cut off the supply it follows you |can reduce the flow to what suits you.

Yes, but if two or more items need water at the same time, it makes them TOO slow.

|> I'm fairly sure that reducing mains pressure will reduce the |> volume of water used per second. Is this not so? | |I'm trying to think of what circumstances warrants this? Are people in |your household leaving water running unnecessarily? But it seems to me few |would do this with high pressure and the tap full on - they'd get splashed |with water.

So, is it true that less water runs through a tap if the pressure is reduced, or not?

I am thinking of such things as mixer showers (which have a very strong cold flow), taps running whilst cleaning teeth, etc.

Reply to
HowieC

Why run the water all the time while cleaning teeth?

In fact why run the water at all? Use a tumbler.

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Wasteful bugger, eat the toothpaste. ;-)

Reply to
dennis

Categorically a bad idea if it is fluoride toothpaste.

Reply to
Rod

Yes. Turning down the stopcock/service valve puts a fixed restriction in the pipe; when the water flows, the downstream pressure is reduced because there a pressure loss due to the resistance. The pressure loss depends on the flow rate. When there's no flow, the pressure is the same as in the mains/service pipe.

The main disadvantage is it's fixed; multiple simultaneous users could all get bog-all flow.

A PRV is a variable resistance, it will open up during high demand to maintain the downstream pre-set pressure. It will shut off completely at times of no flow to keep the pressure at the pre-set reduced value.

If used with anything which will not cope with over-pressure, then the PRV should be used in conjunction with a downstream pressure relief valve (aka safety valve) piped to a drain; cf the statutory plumbing on unvented water heaters.

A flow regulator might suit your needs; see

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are other manufacturers offering something similar. This is quite expensive (=A310 - =A312 each) compared with a cheapo 1/4 turn service valve, but it does what you want.

Reply to
Onetap

|> I am thinking of such things as ... taps running whilst cleaning teeth, |> etc. | |Why run the water all the time while cleaning teeth? | |In fact why run the water at all? Use a tumbler. | |Mary | We have 5 people living in this house. Including 3 youngsters. You are proposing a huge addition to an already constant training exercise! Much simpler to make sure that less water comes out of the tap when it is used.

Reply to
HowieC

|On 12 Jul, 06:39, HowieC | wrote: | |> Yes. done this. But I still get a fast flow from the cold taps. |> I'm fairly sure that reducing mains pressure will reduce the |> volume of water used per second. Is this not so? | |Yes. |Turning down the stopcock/service valve puts a fixed restriction in |the pipe; when the water flows, the downstream pressure is reduced |because there a pressure loss due to the resistance. The pressure loss |depends on the flow rate. When there's no flow, the pressure is the |same as in the mains/service pipe. | |The main disadvantage is it's fixed; multiple simultaneous users could |all get bog-all flow. | |A PRV is a variable resistance, it will open up during high demand to |maintain the downstream pre-set pressure. It will shut off completely |at times of no flow to keep the pressure at the pre-set reduced value. | |If used with anything which will not cope with over-pressure, then the |PRV should be used in conjunction with a downstream pressure relief |valve (aka safety valve) piped to a drain; cf the statutory plumbing |on unvented water heaters. | |A flow regulator might suit your needs; see |

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||There are other manufacturers offering something similar. This is |quite expensive (£10 - £12 each) compared with a cheapo 1/4 turn |service valve, but it does what you want.

Excellent. I think I'll do a mixture of both.

Thanks very much for your help.

H.

Reply to
HowieC

Use mineral water instead ....

Reply to
Adrian C

If you do the downstream flow regulators as Onetap suggests, you may not need to do anything to the main supply at all. These are intended to be fitted as one per mains pressure fed outlet, not one for the whole house.

For other supply uses such as refilling the roof tank it is probably better to make sure that it fills quickly and be done with it rather than restricting what it gets. You could fit a flow restrictor to the supply feeding the ball valve if you find it's needed.

If you take this approach, you shouldn't need to restrict the mains flow into the house. If you think about it, what's needed is to restrict flow out of an individual tap but also to have a situation that other outlets are not affected to any significant degree when another is operated. I think that's what you said you wanted in the first place.

Reply to
Andy Hall

On Sat, 12 Jul 2008 06:35:11 +0100 someone who may be HowieC wrote this:-

An extremely bad setup. Mains pressure varies, for example if someone opens a nearby tap or flushes a toilet. When the mains pressure reduces the water in the shower hose will get hotter. The extreme case is if the mains fails altogether. In this case there is no cold water at all at the shower, but the hot water is still being fed by the cold water storage tank. The result is scalding at best, at worst death.

Mixer showers should be fed from the same source on hot and cold, either the cold water storage tank or the mains. In the case of a cold water storage tank there should be a separate pipe from the tank to the cold connection of the shower. This pipe should be connected lower down than the connection to the hot water cylinder is, so that if the storage tank runs dry then the hot water will stop first. A little cold water before the water stops altogether is a lot better than a little water at cylinder temperature.

Thermostatic mixers are available which will work at low pressures. They will guard against the failure of the cold supply, though personally I prefer to put my safety in the hands of a proper pipe layout rather then some gadget which may fail at the moment it is needed.

From what has been said in the thread I agree that you need some restriction in the flow to each tap. The incoming mains should not be restricted normally.

Reply to
David Hansen

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