How to increase the water pressure in the house

You turn on the tap and the water flows lazily. The gas water heater does not turn on, the washing machine does not work. Taking a shower is a problem. The reason for all these troubles is the lack of pressure, or, in technical terms, insufficient excess water pressure. In this article, we will look at ways to increase the water pressure in the house..

According to the water supply standards, water must be supplied to low-rise buildings with an excess pressure of more than 1 atmosphere (atm), and this is at the maximum planned volume of water intake. For each floor above the first one, 0.4 atm of excess pressure is added. Thus, if according to the general plan your building area is listed as one-story, then you have the right to demand from utilities at least 1 atm when entering the house, if two-story – 1.4 atm, if three-story – 1.8 atmospheres, and so on – the higher , the higher the excess pressure should be. In reality, all this is often not followed. And it is difficult to require utilities to comply with these standards in the private sector. Utilities are required to supply water for domestic consumption and irrigation water is not counted in water supply projects. Accordingly, it is not enough.

But it is not only excessive water consumption that causes low head. In old water supply networks, the pipes are overgrown with salt deposits inside, which precipitate from the water, and the actual cross-section of the pipelines decreases. Sometimes the pressure in the village is provided by a water tower, and its height is insufficient to create normal pressure in areas located higher on the relief. In addition, it happens that the hydraulic resistance of the main line is too high, for example, if the water intake and its pipelines were built for a long time, and then the settlement increased, and the supply distance became greater. Deterioration of central pumping station equipment also causes low head.

All causes of low overpressure fall into two categories:

1. Water is objectively abundant, but its pressure is low. This happens when the height of the water towers is insufficient and the pumps of the water supply station are defective..
2. Little water is supplied. This situation arises when parsing water for irrigation, clogged pipelines, wells with a low water supply, etc..

The decision depends on your specific case. Consider both options.

There is enough water. How to increase blood pressure

The easiest and cheapest option is to install a flow-through booster pump. He uses the water supply in front of him as a reservoir of water. If we open the water tap, water begins to flow through the pump by gravity. The flow sensor detects this and activates the booster pump. For the consumer, it looks like this: at first a weak stream of water flows from the tap, but after 2-3 seconds the pressure rises to the required level. Continuous flow pumps can be installed on the whole house, as well as on individual taps and devices, for example, in front of a gas water heater.

A booster pump is inexpensive and easy to install, but if you have a washing machine it won’t help. An automatic washing machine has a valve on the water inlet that is adjusted to the appropriate pressure. When there is no pressure, the valve does not work, water does not flow through the pump, and it does not turn on. Dishwashers and some types of gas water heaters and storage heaters are also arranged. The operation of such devices requires a constant high water pressure in the system. For this, a hydraulic accumulator is used. Sometimes it is also called “hydraulic tank” or “expansion tank”, but this is the wrong name.

Hydroaccumulator device: 1 – threaded connecting pipe; 2 – flange; 3 – case; 4 – support legs; 5 – elastic membrane; 6 – air valve; 7 – water; 8 – compressed air; 9 – bearing plate for the pump

The accumulator consists of a strong steel body, inside of which there are two cavities – air and water, separated by an elastic membrane. The air cavity contains compressed air (1.5-2 atmospheres). The pump injects water into the water cavity, its pressure is greater than that of compressed air. The air is compressed even more, and the water takes up part of the volume of the accumulator. A check valve, adjusted to 6-7 atmospheres, prevents water from returning back to the system. The pressure switch connects the accumulator with the injection pump.

How it works: the pump pumps water into the accumulator through the check valve until the excess pressure in the system reaches the required value (usually 6-7 atmospheres). When you turn on a tap or turn on a water appliance, high pressure water begins to flow. The water from the accumulator is consumed, the pressure in it drops. When the minimum pressure is reached, which is set 0.6-1 atmosphere higher than the primary pressure of compressed air, the pressure switch is activated, it turns on the pump. The pump runs until the water pressure reaches its maximum again, and then turns off. Then the cycle repeats.

The pump is connected less often if the volume of the accumulator is large enough and the pump will last you longer. When choosing a hydraulic accumulator, it should be borne in mind that in reality no more than half of its nominal volume is used for water supply.

Little water. What to do

If there is objectively little water to ensure the normal pressure and the required flow rate, there is no other option except to include an intermediate storage tank in the water supply circuit. The appropriate volume of the container is equal to the water consumption in your home for one to two days. It is quite simple to calculate it: washing dishes and cooking food consumes up to 100 liters of water per day, one shower – 70-120 liters, a toilet takes 50-60 liters per person, taking a bath – 150-350 liters. In most cases, a sufficient volume of the storage tank is 1-1.5 cubic meters.

Suitable material for the storage tank is food grade stainless steel, food grade aluminum or food grade plastics. Tanks are usually installed either in the attic of the house or in the basement. Plus, when installed in the attic, water will flow by gravity even if there is a power outage. The downside is the high load on building structures and the need for thorough insulation. In addition, leaks are fraught with serious consequences, since the entire tank can drain. If the container is located in the basement, in the event of a power outage, you will have to visit it with a bucket.

Water supply with storage tank: 1 – borehole pump; 2 – check valve; 3 – shut-off valve for filling the container; 4 – mesh filter; 5 – electric valve; 6 – float valve; 7 – water intake valve with a check valve; 8 – pumping station with a hydraulic accumulator; 9 – mesh filter; 10 – electric float; 11 – shut-off valve of the pumping unit; 12 – valve for direct water supply

The storage tank for the main water supply is equipped with a float valve – approximately the same as the toilet cistern. When water is supplied from its own well, a liquid level float switch is installed, which turns on the well pump when the water level in the tank is low and turns it off when the maximum level is reached. If the well has a small debit, a second control loop is connected, which allows the downhole pump to turn on on command from the reservoir only when there is a sufficient water level in the well, and turns it off if the water mirror drops below the permissible level. Both relay branches are led into a switch, which ensures the correct operation of the system. Typically, the tank is filled at night and the tank is emptied during the day..

We hope you can now identify the system you need and build it yourself..