Water pressure is a vital component of your bathroom systems, but just what is it and how does it work?
If you aren’t a professional, water pressure can be difficult to understand, particularly if you are replacing your appliances as part of a renovation or they need repairing. You need to know what type of water pressure your home uses and how it matches up with any potential shower or tap.
We has made this complete guide to water pressure to help you understand what it is, how it’s measured, how you can increase it and the potential issues of mismatched appliances with your bathroom pressure level.
What is water pressure?
Put simply, water pressure is a measurement of how quickly the water flows through the pipes and through your taps or shower.
If your water pressure is low, water will flow slowly and take longer to fill up a sink or a bath, especially in an upstairs bathroom. If the water pressure is higher, it will fill up much quicker and your shower will be more powerful.
If you have lived in a house for a while it can be difficult to know whether you have high or low pressure, as the speed with which the water comes out is what you are used to and consider “normal”.
Water pressure in the bathroom really only matters when you are thinking about upgrading or renovating your bathroom.
Water pressure is linked to your home’s boiler, along with a water tank, so it’s important to know which type of boiler you have.
Why is my water pressure low?
If you see a drop in water pressure for your taps or shower, it could be for a number of reasons, such as demand, pipes, blockages and old appliances.
Demand
A common one being the time of day you are using your appliances. In the morning, between 7 and 9 am, when everyone is having a shower and getting ready for work or school, pressure can be lower, so the water flowing out of a tap or shower may be lower than usual.
Narrow Pipes
Aside from incidents causing a drop in pressure, older properties have generally been built with narrower pipes than more modern homes. This can cause problems with low pressure when using your appliances or trying to run them at the same time. Pipes in modern houses can be twice as wide as older properties, so these issues are often not found in new builds.
Blocked Pipes
Like narrow pipes, the supply and water pressure to your home can be impacted by blocked pipes, either through limescale, rust or dirt. Like your drains becoming blocked and leading to sinks or toilets being slow to drain, the same can happen for water supply, causing lower pressure.
Clogged Appliances
As your pipes can be blocked, so too can your taps and shower. Limescale can build up over time which can cause a substantial drop in flow and water pressure. Many showers have a filter to protect them from pipework debris, which can become blocked, too. If your tap runs at a different rate than your shower, and vice-versa, this is likely the issue.
Height
Specifically for showers, they will not perform as expected unless there is a minimum height of one metre between the shower head and the water level in your property’s water tank. Called the ‘head of water’, the higher the head, the greater your water pressure and vice-versa.
Obstructed Valve
You experience low water pressure if your shut-off valve is obstructed or even closed. Usually found under your kitchen sink, the valve can become obstructed by debris. Likewise, if you’ve recently bought and moved into a new home, had building work done recently, then you should check the valve is fully open. If you think the valve is broken, call a plumber.
How to increase water pressure
There are numerous ways to increase the water pressure in your taps and shower, from cleaning to buying pumps. We’ve explained the main options below.
Cleaning Taps and Shower Heads
Thoroughly clean your taps, removing limescale and any dirt that may be on them or in the water outlet. Limescale can build up over time, so regular cleaning will avoid this. The same goes for your shower, which can become clogged with limescale or dirt. Remove the shower head to clean or use a bag around. Also, make sure you check the shower hose isn’t kinked or damaged.
Replace Your Shower Head
An alternative to cleaning, or the next step if you find a fault, is to replace the shower head. Cleaner insides, new hoses and an unclogged handset will often make a bit of difference to the water flow and pressure. You could also try an adjustable shower head to check the water flow regularly.
Fit a Shower Pump
If you want a stronger flow of water and higher pressure for your shower, you can fit a water pump to your existing system. Fitted to the water system, the pump is activated when you switch the shower on with water travelling through the shower pump before coming out of the shower head. These are particularly useful for gravity-fed systems and older properties.
Install a Power Shower
Fitting a power shower will use both your hot and cold water supplies to feed the flow to the shower via an electrically driven pump within the shower’s box. Designed to with low-pressure water systems, you could see up to three times the flow. The only downside is that installation is often higher than the more cost-effective shower pump option.
What is the best water pressure for a tap?
If your property has low water pressure, you should consider taps that are suitable for both high and low-pressure systems. Just be sure to check that the minimum water pressure is the same as your water pressure, or even lower.
For high water pressure, choose taps that are suitable for, like above, high and low water pressure systems, or just for high-pressure only systems.
What is the best water pressure for a shower?
A low-pressure water system offers a wide choice of showers, including mixer showers, digital showers, electric and power showers. These are all suitable as long as the pressure is achieved.