Forum Topic

problems with water pressure?

Anyone else having problems with the water pressure lately?  I've noticed for the past 2 weeks it seems very low, at some times of the day I struggle to get the shower to work.  I've checked the Thames Water website, but no problems reported.  A sign of a hosepipe ban to come?

Kim Bobsin ● 4839d22 Comments

YES! We are in Maldon Road and have had problems with water pressure for God knows how long. Don't think Thames Water want to admit there's a problem. It seems particularly bad lately at peak times. For example yesterday mid morning I was having a shower and it was constantly fluctuating between hot and cold while our boiler would make a revving noise every time it did this. The water wasn't blasting out either like it usually does.

James Vertigan ● 4839d

Thanks, glad to know it's not just me!

Kim Bobsin ● 4839d

Same here in Essex Road

Bob Crossley ● 4839d

Yep, same here in Acacia Road, I had Thames Water out last week to check. In peak times my shower just goes cold as the boiler gives out due to lack of flow. Supposedly the pressure is good but the flow is poor (who knew there was a difference!?). I would say it started when they dug up the road on Churchfield Road a while back, I remember there was a short outage and then it's been poor since.I'm waiting for them to come back to me but as it's above their minimum they probably won't do anything. The guy hinted that the area may have been put under a "management plan", in other words we could be having our flow artifically controlled (managed).

Nigel Ryan ● 4839d

Yes, I've just learned from the plumber that we use that Thames Water has installed new water meters in some areas as part of a water management plan (at the pavement) with the flow reduced to limit how much water households use.  As we have a combi boiler, we've been having problems getting hot water as the flow is sometimes so low that the boiler doesn't engage to heat it.  Apparently the answer is to contact Thames Water and get the to come out and increase the flow.  I'll try this and report back if it works.

Kim Bobsin ● 4839d

Well I've had them out and there was pretty much zero interest. Are you in a house or flat? I'm in a flat upstairs and they showed that there was a better flow outside in the garage suggesting that the problem is internal. I have the same issue with the boiler as mentioned. The flow has never been amazing but it definitely has dropped significantly recently.

Nigel Ryan ● 4839d

It's been the same for us in Shakespeare Road for a good few months, it's been my worry that we're doing damage to our boiler with it constantly refireing as people take their showers (hopefully my worries are unfounded).

Joanne McBride ● 4838d

Yes, here on Maldon Road.  We have a combi boiler, and I have a shower that doesn't have an electric pump attached, so relies solely on the pressure.  Weekdays I'm up very early, so it's fine, but weekends, when I guess everyone else is having a shower, it's poor to non-existent, particularly the last few days.  Will Thames Water really increase the flow?

Adam Kimmel ● 4838d

I doubt it, I've not heard back from them at all since their visit, but they pretty much told me that it was acceptable then. I did as for them to visit during peak hours but of course they came in the middle of the afternoon when the flow wasn't bad.

Nigel Ryan ● 4831d

Finally called Thames Water about this problem.  Fellow on the phone seemed very helpful, an appointment has been made for an engineer to come out next week.  I was advised that it could be a leak in the area, problems with the valves to the area, etc.  Sounds good, let's see if the problem gets resolved.

Kim Bobsin ● 4830d

Hi All,If you're having problems with the water pressure please give Thames Water a call. The more calls they get, the more likely they are to do something about it. I have a theory that they've reduced the pressure or something and now because of restrictive old internal pipework, we're suffering the ill effects. In my garage the flow was 14L per min in my kitchen it was 2L and this was off-peak! It's still above the 1L that they are obliged to supply but they've definitely changed something in the area. I logged another call with them yesterday as I'd not heard anything back since the last visit so now I'm waiting to hear back on that one.

Nigel Ryan ● 4823d

There are usually several supply routes to an area until they shut some off rather than fix leaks in those routes. Didn't we sell off all our vital services, such as gas, water, electricity, drainage, etc, etc, etc?

Chris Bell ● 4823d

Anybody had any joy getting anywhere with Thames Water - I haven't tried a phone call yet only a Tweet and of course I got no response...

James Vertigan ● 4821d

A tweet, to Thames Water, seriously!?

Nigel Ryan ● 4820d

Thames Water have a reporting proceedure via their website.Unfortunately when I tried to report a serious leak in Park Royal someone had incorrectly reported that there was a leak in a parallel Private road, so the real link was ignored until it flooded the bank nearby, forcing the bank to close for refurbishment.

Chris Bell ● 4820d

Extremely low pressure here in West Acton due to this I believe.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-23224554

Ellie Rose ● 4818d

And so it continues. We now have an appointment booked between 8am-1pm on 19th July for Thames Water to come out to check the problem. Told operator that numerous other properties were experiencing issues, she suggested it could be a fault at our local pumping station. Shall update if we get any further with this.

James Vertigan ● 4816d

Well, a bit of a result yesterday.I was at work, but a chap from Thames Water turned up as promised yesterday and measured the water pressure inside and outside the house. He found it was at one bar (water pressure is measured in bars!) but during peak usage it could be dropping to half a bar or even below that, which is why people might be having problems. Anyway, he said he would arrange for the wick to be turned up (presumably at the local pumping station, which I believe is on Canham Road - just off Warple Way), but this could take up to a week to organise. So hopefully in the next week we should notice an improvement.

James Vertigan ● 4806d

Well done. Amazon sell a water pressure meter for £10. I have used mine a lot over the years. Do Thames count the minimum pressure as the correct one or the average bearing in mind the guaranteed minimum is 1 bar?

Bob Crossley ● 4806d

they said 1 bar to the downstairs kitchen is their responsibility, he didn't mention any guarantees to me as such

Nigel Ryan ● 4802d

Actually I find companies/politicians etc much more responsive to tweets than anything else. Both 02 and nespresso have recently sorted things out as the result of a tweet not a phone call, email or letter.

Sara Nathan ● 4802d

Less people tweeting to businesses than emailing I suspect also you end up in the hapless individuals pocket, not their secretary's in tray.

Bob Crossley ● 4802d