Water pressure in a flat - can it be pumped

That would probably work. Check the incoming mains can supply at a flow rate which is suitable for a power shower though.

The other thing would be to consider a Combi in this case, but it's very important you check the mains water flow rate and pressure are good enough. There are many cases of fitting these in flats, and finding the pressure or flow rate is too low, or drop too low sometime after the installation (has been a big problem in some London areas where water pressure was reduced to reduce leaks from the water mains).

I was intending that it would go on the output of the tank so the header tank would provide a buffer. I am not sure that my supply at home could provide as much water as the pump does.

No gas - which seems to be quite common in blocks of flats.

The regulations for gas in tower blocks are quite stringent. Google "Ronan Point" for why.

Sometimes it isn't so much the rising main as the ball valve which limits the flow; in this case a relatively easy fix, if the header tank is big enough, is to fit a second ball valve on a tee off the supply. Had to do that when I had teenage daughter (and often her girlfriends) in the house!

Eh? I doubt any normal incoming mains pipework, etc., could refill the tanks at the rate a decent shower pump could empty them. That's why it's important that the feeds to the pump are arranged correctly so that the hot always runs out first. DOn't just connect the pump to the existing pipes ans asume all is OK.

MBQ

The header tanks integrated on top of the hot water cylinder are small compared with a standard loft storage tank.

But many people will have a fast enough mains flow rate anyway.

Our hot water is fed from a header tank which, as we live in a flat, doesn't provide much head, particularly at the kitchen tap (narrow bore connections). I fitted one of these:

Now that is an interesting alternative. And looks like one designed for the purpose. I assume that you installed it on the outlet of the header tank before the pipe splits into cold feed and inlet to the hot water tank. Is that right?

Andrew

I fitted a variable power shower pump for my mother when she had a mobile home. Being a mobile home there is no loft for a header tank and this one had a Fortic cylinder which incorporates the cold header built on top of the hot cylinder. Due to the very low head a gravity shower was hopeless, and the taps ran quite slowly but the very small cold tank gave limited supply without space to install a second ball valve. The final answer involved using a ball valve with a larger nozzle, and bigger ball to hold it closed and using a shower head with quite a fine rose that restricted the volume of the flow but still gave a usable shower of water. The variable pump was fitted into the supply both to the shower and the kitchen taps and after a bit of tweaking of the settings worked well for the few years and others used it.

Mike

neighbour had all this. I told him to fit a pressurised cylinder - infinitely better solution.

Have you considered a conventional electric shower? Unless you rely on

Not a patch on a power shower of course but your existing header will starve the hot tank long before you are clean:-)

I have a Stuart Turner pumped unit and a huge header in the loft. When the system was initially set up, the plumber had to retro fit an Essex flange to reduce the occasions when the pump drew air into the cistern.

Even now, daughters home= a likely air lock:-(

I hope not! That would result in the hot cylinder becoming pressurised, which could be fatal - for *it* if not for the flat occupants.

I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned the possibility of replacing the hot cylinder with a non-vented model. These *are* designed to withstand mains pressure, and would do away with the need for a pump. They do, of course, rely on having a sufficiently good mains flow rate - so this would be the first thing to check.

It was the first consideration. But installing it would require running mains pressure water to the bathroom and suitable cabling. Probably need an additional circuit breaker in the consumer unit as well.

The aim is not to have a power shower but to have at the very least a shower that has water coming out if it when you stand underneath it.

Andrew

That was something that occurred to me last night. I would probably work if it increased the head by about six feet or so but looking at the specs for that pump it seems to ad another 15 or 20 feet.

What I am looking for is a low-cost and easy to implement method of getting a functional shower. Although long term a mains pressure cylinder may be the way forward it is not something I would want to do now - not least that it is not easy to DIY.

Andrew

Bollocks. You buy the cylinder and connect it to the pipework. And to the electricity.

It can replace the existing tank and header so all the pipework and mains is already there....

Only extra you need is the overpressure pipe and you can use existing overflow stuff for that.

Might be worth checking how your toilet is plumbed. Water by-laws must have changed since I knew anything:-)

Not expensive if you have a spare way.

Good luck. Changing to a pressurised cistern must be worth investigating.

I wouldn't be too precious about DIY-ing it - but I agree that these beasts are quite expensive.

Alternatively, you could use a 2-channel shower pump which boosts both the hot water from the cylinder and the (gravity) cold water from the header in equal measure. Your main problem is going to be the (lack of) capacity of the header unless the rate of mains replenishment is very good. Probably best to go for a pump which isn't over-powerful.

I agree about the DIY aspect - but he did say "low cost"!

As somebody else noted, there's a slight lag before it comes on. It hunts (= switches on and off) if you turn the shower flow rate down and that sounds = to me like it's unhealthy for the motor. Note it pumps both hot and cold. I= lived in a flat that had one pump for hot and another pump for cold - that= was a nightmare - it was impossible to fine adjust temperature without get= ting a jet of scalding or freezing water when each pump decided to switch o= n or off.

I don't think they make it anymore. In principle it's very good - I'd just = watch out for noise and tolerance to low flow rate.