How to Increase Water Pressure on Gravity Fed Water Systems

What is a Gravity Fed System?

As the name suggests, a gravity fed system relies on gravity to help water flow through your home’s pipes. The mains supply of water enters your property and divides into two pipes. One pipe takes the water to the cold tap in the kitchen and the other passes it to a large water storage tank, which is usually stored in the roof space.

When required, water leaves the tank and falls through the pipes to the toilet cistern and cold taps in the bathroom. For hot water, water from the tank runs through a pipe towards the hot water cylinder. This is usually found in the airing cupboard. Hot water from the cylinder then travels to the home’s hot water taps. A vent pipe is also included as a safety feature.

Because gravity is the only force pushing the water through the pipes, a gravity fed system is often referred to as a low pressure system.

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How to Increase Water Pressure on Gravity Fed Systems

Before you can determine how to increase water pressure on your gravity fed system, you’ll need to identify where your cold water storage tank is.

If your cold water tank is not in the loft space and is in a cupboard instead, you can increase your home’s water pressure by moving the cold water tank to a high position. This gives the water further to fall, which will increase the flow and pressure of the water through the pipes. However, moving your water tank can be a costly and complicated task, which leads many people to look for alternatives.

Often, a simple option is to install a shower or whole house pump to your system. Depending on the model you choose, this can help to boost both water pressure and flow around your property.

Another Gravity Fed Shower Problem

The shower is often the most problematic part of any gravity fed water system. If your shower is located above your cold water supply, a negative head situation is created as this means water will have to travel upwards which it can’t do via gravity. In scenarios like this, a negative head pump may be required to force water upwards to the shower.

Your plumber will be able to tell you if you have a negative head situation.

To help identify which type of system you have, test the water flow in your home, and get some suggestions to solve the problems of low water pressure please browse our site and use our product selector.