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To all those who have complained about low water pressure

It looks like Thames Water has finally got around to doing something - they are digging up part of Maldon Road at the moment and upon enquiring they said they'd had reports of low pressure in the area. So hopefully those of us who have experienced low pressure for a very long time might notice some improvement.

James Vertigan ● 6037d8 Comments

James, thanks for that.  Please keep us all posted.

Dee Cook ● 6037d

Tried posting this from my Iphone this morning but it didn't seem to work...I noticed some signs have gone up at the end of Hereford Road (Horn Lane end) saying Hereford Road will be closed for a few days for "essential drainage works". Whether or not this is to do with the water pressure problems in Acton I don't know.They have patched up the hole here in Maldon Road today, not sure we've noticed any improvement in pressure yet though.

James Vertigan ● 6035d

Ours has been bad since we had a combi boiler fitted. Apparantly if you're in an older house you'll find poorer water pressure because combi's come with 15mm pipes and most old houses have 22mm, so the pressure drops as the water enters the older pipes. Sorry if boring, thought this might help though.

marie siddique ● 6034d

Combi boilers don't necessarily cause pressure problems: our house was built in the 1870s and we're on our second combi. The pressure has always been so good that we had to  have mains pressure cold water piped through to the bath fitments in order to have equal pressure between hot and cold in the shower - could be bit uncomfortable otherwise!

Lorna Dodd ● 6033d

Yup. It depends on the power of the combi. In the 1980s they were notorious for having low pressure, whereas today, they have higher power and so are able to supply more hot water on demand.

John Theodore Clark ● 6033d

Did you know that you can claim a £25 refund from your supplier if the water pressure doesn’t come up to scratch?Test your water pressure by seeing if you can fill a gallon bucket in 30 seconds from a ground floor tap. If the pressure falls below that level for more than an hour on two occasions in a month, you’re entitled to a £25 refund.

Paul Scullion ● 6032d

That is a factoid often repeated in the press.It confuses pressure with flow rate.In reality, water companies are obliged to supply water at at least 1 bar pressure. There are many other reasons why you may not be able to obtain a flow rate of 10 litres per minute: household pipe too narrow, stopcock not fully open, other people using water in the same building.Incidentally, 1 bar is pretty puny. It is only enough to push water up 10 metres. If you are in the top floor of a three-storey building, your water will be at a trickle!

John Theodore Clark ● 6032d

Agreed (more or less). The actual wording from the Thames Water web site is :"If the water pressure in our pipework serving your property (which usually ends at the boundary stop tap or edge of the street) falls below "seven metres static head", in other words, 70 per cent of our normal minimum level of service), you can claim £30. You must have experienced loss of pressure twice in a 28-day period and the loss of pressure must have lasted more than one hour on each occasion. You can only receive one payment under this guarantee in any financial year. This guarantee does not apply if the low pressure is caused by essential work we have to do to our own supply network or through drought conditions."There is no suggestion as to how you might measure this, or indeed how you might argue it out with them should they dispute your claim.For those old enough to remember proper science lessons, one atmosphere (i.e. 1 bar) is 760 mm of mercury, or 33 ft of water.

Ian M Green ● 6029d