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Low water pressure can be caused by poor natural head on a gravity system, or an increase in demand ie if more than one outlet is used at the same time, or an extension/ new bathroom etc has been added to a property. On mains fed systems, water pressure will vary throughout the day and at peak demand times a drop in performance may be noticed. Other contributors to low water pressure may include poor plumbing or blocked pipework, blocked filters, bent AV Couplers/ hoses and air in the system.

Signs of low water pressure could be a sink or bathtub taking forever to fill, the shower might not be as powerful as you want, or your dishwasher could take longer to cycle than necessary.

If your natural water flow rate is less than 10 L/min then you will probably notice these signs. To check your water flow rate you can carry out a flow rate test.

Our products have been designed to offer a solution to low water pressure in the home. Find the right product for you by using our product selector.

The water pressure can vary when the hot and cold water are supplied in different ways, such as when the hot water is supplied by a gravity fed system and the cold water is supplied directly from the mains. This can be seen when running a mixer tap and the pressure of the mains fed cold water is fine, but the gravity fed hot water pressure is poor.

It is possible to overcome this by using a universal, single ended pump to improve the gravity fed hot water pressure. If the hot water is supplied via a hot water cylinder, check for any blockages or restrictions in pipework that could be effecting the performance.

Our range of water boosting solutions offer a solution to low water pressure and/or flow.

If you have a gravity fed system, installing a shower, bathroom or whole house pump from our GravityBooster range can resolve the low water pressure in the home.

If you have a mains fed system, such as a combination boiler or an unvented cylinder, one of our MainsBooster inline pumps or accumulator products will improve the water pressure and flow.

If you suffer from poor water pressure in your home one of our products can offer the perfect solution to boosting water pressure and/or flow. The results are: improved shower performance, quicker bath fill and strong flowing taps.

However, it is important to make sure that you get the right pump for your system. Use our product selector to help you find the right product.

AquaScan combines the technology to measure pressure, flow, temperature, and hardness in one unit.

Static Pressure Test

• Connect AquaScan to the outlet.
• Allow flow through the unit and then close the isolation valve on the outlet of the unit.
• Ensure all outlets in the property are closed during test.
• Record the “Pressure” reading shown on the screen.
• Open the isolation valve to allow water to flow and then turn off the outlet.

Note: the pressure should always read “0.0” before removing the unit from the outlet

Dynamic Pressure Test

• Connect AquaScan to the outlet.
• Fully open the isolation valve on the outlet of the unit.
• Open the outlet and allow flow through the unit until the desired flow rate is reached.
• Record the “Pressure” reading shown on the screen.
• Turn off the outlet.

Note: the pressure should always read “0.0” before removing the unit from the outlet

• Connect AquaScan to the outlet.
• Ensure the isolation valve on AquaScan is fully open.
• Take three measurements from the live ‘Flow’ reading.
• Calculate the average of the three measurements.

A garden tap is the best location to measure the incoming flow rate. When this isn’t possible, such as in properties where there is no outside tap, measuring the flow rate while multiple outlets are open is the best way to calculate the incoming flow rate. As this ensures any restrictive outlets do not impact the measurement.

• Attach AquaScan to one outlet and turn on.
• Ensure the isolation valve on AquaScan is fully open.
• Record the flow rate.
• Open another outlet (so both are turned on).
• Check the flow rate on AquaScan:
  • If the flow rate remains the same, then continue to open further outlets until it decreases.
  • If the flow rate decreases, use AquaScan to measure the flow rate at each outlet (all outlets must remain turned on), make a note of the flow rate in the specification notepad. Add together the flow rates to determine the total flow rate.

A gravity fed water system is identified by a cold-water storage tank, usually stored in a loft, and a hot water cylinder. These systems rely on gravity to force water around the system, with the height of the cold-water storage tank determining the pressure throughout the system.

Cold water is delivered to the cold-water storage tank from the water mains. Cold water from the cold-water storage tank is then supplied to the outlets around the system, such as taps, toilets, showers and baths.

The cold-water storage tank also feeds the hot water cylinder, where a heating coil from the boiler or immersion heater will cause the cold water to become hot. Once an outlet requiring hot water is opened, gravity will force cold water from the cold-water storage tank into the hot water cylinder, this will then force hot water out from the top of the cylinder, delivering hot water to the open outlet.

It is common for gravity fed water systems to suffer with low pressure, installing one of our gravity fed shower pumps can help to improve the pressure, click here to see our range gravity-fed shower pumps.

Gravity-fed water systems are either positive or negative head. Before choosing a gravity-fed shower pump it is important to know whether your system is positive head of negative head, click here for further information.

If you’re unsure which product you need read our guide to selecting the right product, or use our product selector tool.

A mains fed system is one which is fed directly by the mains water such as a combination boiler or an unvented hot water cylinder.

A positive head pump will activate when a minimum flow of water passes through the pump and out of the pumped outlet, such as a shower or tap, naturally (without assistance from the pump). The minimum flow rate required for our positive head pumps is 2 litres of water per minute (L/min).

If you don’t have this minimum flow rate from all outlets that are to be pumped, or if you’re not sure, then you will need a universal (negative head) pump.

A universal (negative head) is suitable for boosting water pressure in any gravity fed system.  These pumps are activated by a drop in pressure in the system caused by an outlet being opened, such as tap or shower being turned on.

Positive head pumps are activated when at least 2 litres per minute passes through the pump, and are therefore activated by flow rather than pressure. All outlets that are to be pumped must receive the minimum flow of 2 litres per minute for a positive head pump to be used.

So in systems with little (less than 2 litres per minute) or no natural flow, a universal (negative head) pump will be required.

Single impeller pumps supply either hot or cold water, to single or multiple outlets. This can often be when the cold water is mains fed and the hot needs to be boosted to match this pressure.

Twin pumps have two impellers and are designed to supply both hot and cold water to showers, bathrooms and whole house installations.

AquaScan is 4-in-1 digital water multimeter, combing the technology to measure pressure, flow, temperature, and hardness to provide precise water insight.

Adequate water pressure is essential for the proper functioning of appliances and fixtures within the property. Low water pressure can affect showers, washing machines or dishwashers. AquaScan can confirm the incoming mains water pressure into a property and accurately indicate that pressure is poor.

Water hardness is a problem which can cause limescale build-up, blocking pipes and reducing the efficiency of water using appliances such boilers and kettles. Knowing the water hardness is important to understanding what preventive measures can be taken to protect appliances, like installing a Salamander Pumps’ water conditioners.

AquaScan can easily measure the temperature of water, which is important not only from a performance perspective, but a safety one too. For example, it helps installers to determine if they need to install a Thermostatic Mixing Valve in a hot water system or to ensure that already installed TMV is operating correctly.

AquaScan incorporates four measurement tools therefore it allows you to take multiple types of readings at the same time, from one device. For example, on a combination boiler, if the temperature of water coming from the tap is not hot enough, it could indicate that the thermostat has failed, or that limescale has had a detrimental effect on flow and temperature reducing the efficiency of the boiler. All these issues would be highlighted by using AquaScan.