How can I tell whether my plumbing system is suitable for fitting of a shower pump (to boost pressure)?

Question

The pressure of water in my upstairs shower is really low, and I want to improve it. The shower head is (just about) the recommended 1 metre below the level of the cold water tank. I don't know how to tell whether my system is "gravity-fed" or not, and whether fitting a shower booster pump is feasible. Grateful for any advice.

Answer 1

You have answered your own question. The fact that the upstairs shower is less powerful is telling me that it is gravity fed. Go ahead and fit your pump, but make sure it is on the same circuit as the one downstairs so that both showers are pumped.

Answer 2

In addition to what the gentleman above me stated:

Not sure what your "supply" is, whether it's a remotely-filled holding tank, or supplied by CITY water UNDER PRESSURE. If it is merely a collecting tank, and not fed or kept under pressure, then your system is using gravity to feed it. I can't see any other reason for the "recommended 1 metre below the level of the cold water tank" comment to mean anything. In a city-fed pressurized system, this wouldn't matter.

I don't know what kind of pipe you have, either. If copper or plastic, make sure the joints (connections) are strong enough to hold during increased pressure. It might be advisable to increase the pipe size by one size, which would reduce the pressure in the pipe itself, but increase it as it actually goes through the shower head.

If your piping is plastic (PVC), make sure you are using CPVC (hot water pipe) for the hot connections (regular PVC breaks down and gives off poisons when heated). Also, make sure your initial connections into and out of the pump are METAL (copper or galvanized), as the pump will get hot and could deform PVC pipe, causing leaks at the pump connections.

Choose a showerhead carefully. The ones that are sold as pressure-increasing heads, actually greatly reduce flow to create that pressure. The water will hit you harder, but you'll get much less, and take much longer to shower. You want increased pressure without volume loss. Most showerheads now come with removable flow restrictors (at least in the U.S.). Look for that feature in a new head. If you want more volume, just remove the restrictor.

Otherwise, sounds like a pump would be a very welcome addition. Happy showering!

Answer 3

If your water pressure is too low to run an upstairs shower I am thinking you should address the low pressure problem rather than trying to boost the pressure for one shower.

A plumber would solder a tee into your main water line and attach a pressure guage to determine if your line pressure is high enough. It should be greater than 30 pounds per square inch. If the pressure is low in the main line, then a booster pump might be required for the whole house.

There may be a blockage in the main line coming to the house. It might be worth a call to your local municipality to see if they would check it and repair it at no charge. There also might be some restriction in the plumbing going upstairs causing a pressure drop.

Better to spend the money to get these problems solved than spending money on a new pump for one shower. Its most likely that the low pressure problems will only get worse and that means your pump purchase will have been for nothing.

Best Regards

Adrian D.

Answer 4

If you have a water tank in the attic then it is gravity fed otherwise the water will come from the stop **** into the house and go straight to the taps.

I dont think you can use a power shower on a water system fed directly from the mains but I am not 100% sure. I think you will need to install a header tank if that is what you have.

If you already have a tank in the attic then you should be ok.

Have a look at this website, it might help

Answer 5

Your best bet is to check with a professional plumber that you trust. Ask friends/coworkers for recommendations. I work for a plumbing co, and I know that do-it-yourself plumbing isn't a good idea unless you're REALLY handy. :) Some plumbers will come out and give advice for free if you find a good company.
Hope this helps.

Answer 6

Depends on how your hot water is produced. With a combi-boiler, this would be at mains pressure, but if the hot-tank is lower than the cold (in an airing cupboard), then that won't help.