How to improve water pressure of gravity fed hot water system?

[Marcia_L]

Hi everyone,

Wondering if there is anyone in the forum who has knowledge on gravity fed hot water systems that could please help?

My flat is on the 2nd floor (top of the building) and every flat has their own gravity fed hot water system - they are located in the roof directly above my flat.

The previous owner has renovated the flat and I’ve had numerous plumbers come out to see why the water pressure is so low in the shower. 4 or 5 visits later across 2 years, I have had a booster of some sort put in prior to me living here (a tenant was living here).

Since I’ve moved in, the last plumber came out in February and advised that the cold water to the shower is being fed by the cold water tank that’s part of the gravity fed system, not via mains. He thinks this is the issue as all other taps (basin, kitchen, laundry and toilet) are connected to mains cold water and the gravity fed hot water.

Is anyone able to please shed some light here with regards to the low pressure in the shower? Is it because the shower has been incorrectly connected to the cold water in the gravity fed system instead of the mains cold water connection?

Hope someone can help explain so I can make a decision on what to do to fix it.

Thank you!

Marcia.

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Marcia_L,

If your shower's hot and cold are both fed by a gravity system, that could explain the low pressure. Typically, the hot would be fed, and then the cold would add pressure from the mains. Have you enquired whether the shower's cold water could be plumbed to the mains as with the other taps?

Also, it would be worth checking whether this booster is still operational, perhaps it failed.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Marcia_L]

Hi @MitchellMc 

Thank you for your reply.

This makes sense!

The plumber advised if I were to plumb the shower’s cold water to the mains I would need to change the shower mixer to a tap set. This would involve ripping out tiles etc which would become a bigger job than I’m prepared to proceed with!

I will check with him if we can just try and plumb the shower’s cold water to the mains and if I wouldn’t need to change the mixer set up.

He did check the booster and said it was working OK as it’s still relatively new.

I’ll see how I go with the above.

Thanks again!
Marcia.