Poor water supply

trojan

Registered User
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My water pressure is excellent but water flow is poor. Irish Water are going to investigate if there is a problem from stopcock on pavement to the main water main. They are hopeful there may be an issue here which will solve my problem but if there is no improvement then its up to me to get a plumber to try and remedy matters from stopcock into my house. Wondering what can a plumber do to try and clear any blockage which reduces the water flow. Out of curiousity is there a separate pipe outside my house from the main to the stopcock for each house in the park. I am pretty ignorant of this subject generally
 
The stance that irish water are taking about leak repairs etc..being consumer responsibility is most likely illegal under EU law.. you can't limit Liability for the provision of a service
 
The stance that irish water are taking about leak repairs etc..being consumer responsibility is most likely illegal under EU law.. you can't limit Liability for the provision of a service
As in the past the liability of the provider only went as far as the stopcock on the footpath. Any comments on my query?
 
Im no plumber !!! I just wouldn't pay for a service I was not getting. .irish water bound to act within the law and they can't hold you responsible for problems with their infrastructure
 
OK, issues up to the meter will be remedied by Irish Water (could simply be sediment build up due to works in the area), if they find no issue, then the problem lies somewhere between that and your taps, etc.. Have you had a meter installed recently or when did the problem arise?

A plumber (or anyone competent) can identify the water entry point to your house. In many cases this will be at a tap under your kitchen sink, stairs, or similar. Isolate the supply on the stopcock on the pavement, remove your isolating valve/ tap, attach a length of pipe/hose to point to a bucket/sink, and turn the supply back on. You'll probably need 2 pairs of hands here so you don't flood the place :)

If the flow is still poor, then the problem lies somewhere between the meter/ stopcock on the pavement and your isolation valve/ tap. This is actually common enough as poor building practices mean pipes were not buried deep enough by builders, or in some cases tree roots developing, or subsidence can result in the feed pipes being compressed. If that is the case, then the problem is yours to resolve, as you own that section of the infrastructure.

There was a lot of talk of a first fix free scheme, but I've yet to see any specific details of what that might be or when it might be rolled out, but I have read it will not cover any issues from 1m of the boundary into the house (and that's where most issues will be).

If the flow to your isolation valve is fine, then odds are the isolation valve itself has had its day or is partially blocked with sediment (again common enough with all the works going on). Either of those is an easy and cheap fix.

Expecting Irish Water to resolve issues within your property would be like expecting Electric Ireland to fix a damaged socket in your home.
 
OK, issues up to the meter will be remedied by Irish Water (could simply be sediment build up due to works in the area), if they find no issue, then the problem lies somewhere between that and your taps, etc.. Have you had a meter installed recently or when did the problem arise?

A plumber (or anyone competent) can identify the water entry point to your house. In many cases this will be at a tap under your kitchen sink, stairs, or similar. Isolate the supply on the stopcock on the pavement, remove your isolating valve/ tap, attach a length of pipe/hose to point to a bucket/sink, and turn the supply back on. You'll probably need 2 pairs of hands here so you don't flood the place :)

If the flow is still poor, then the problem lies somewhere between the meter/ stopcock on the pavement and your isolation valve/ tap. This is actually common enough as poor building practices mean pipes were not buried deep enough by builders, or in some cases tree roots developing, or subsidence can result in the feed pipes being compressed. If that is the case, then the problem is yours to resolve, as you own that section of the infrastructure.

There was a lot of talk of a first fix free scheme, but I've yet to see any specific details of what that might be or when it might be rolled out, but I have read it will not cover any issues from 1m of the boundary into the house (and that's where most issues will be).

If the flow to your isolation valve is fine, then odds are the isolation valve itself has had its day or is partially blocked with sediment (again common enough with all the works going on). Either of those is an easy and cheap fix.

Expecting Irish Water to resolve issues within your property would be like expecting Electric Ireland to fix a damaged socket in your home.
Thanks Leo. I have been living in the house for past 40 years and never went near the the stop cock on pavement . the man from Irish Water who incidentally called the day after i reported the matter to Dublin Head office said flow usually improves following their work on stop cock out to the mains. When he saw flow from cold water tap he immediately said it was very inadequate. We always had problems when using the shower which got worse recently when we installed a new shower after 20 years!
 
No problem Trojan, hopefully they find an issue on their end so and fix it quickly.

Showers have varying supply pressure requirements, generally documented on the box or the instruction/installation manual. You'll get some that can deal with quite low pressure, but sounds like your pressure is well below norm for any mains-fed shower. I'm presuming your previous and current showers are mains-fed. There are alternatives, but sorting the pressure should be enough for you.
 
No problem Trojan, hopefully they find an issue on their end so and fix it quickly.

Showers have varying supply pressure requirements, generally documented on the box or the instruction/installation manual. You'll get some that can deal with quite low pressure, but sounds like your pressure is well below norm for any mains-fed shower. I'm presuming your previous and current showers are mains-fed. There are alternatives, but sorting the pressure should be enough for you.
Thanks again...actually i was told our pressure is grand but the flow is poor. As someone not too bright on such matters i find it hard to understand if the pressure is OK why i have the problem but it seems to come back that there is not enough water coming in from the pipe.
 
The only thing that would make sense is that they're testing the pressure one side of a blockage, and you're seeing the resulting poor flow on the other side of the blockage. Either that, or you have very narrow pipes throughout your house.
 
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