MattF Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Thanks to those who've posted some really interesting French plumbing info recently on this forum - it's been very useful.I have a slightly different question. We are refurbishing a 4 bedroom/3 bathroom house in Provence to use as a gite but there is a problem with the water pressure (when you turn any of the downstairs taps on there is no pressure upstairs and you can't use more than one appliance (washing machine, tap, shower) at any one time).I don't know a lot about plumbing (more's the shame) but I would think a pump would help to make sure there is enough pressure. But our plumber tells us that water companies in France forbid the fitting of pumps. Is this correct? Does anyone have any ideas for what we can do to increase the pressure?All advice gratefully received! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 [quote user="MattF"]Thanks to those who've posted some really interesting French plumbing info recently on this forum - it's been very useful. I have a slightly different question. We are refurbishing a 4 bedroom/3 bathroom house in Provence to use as a gite but there is a problem with the water pressure (when you turn any of the downstairs taps on there is no pressure upstairs and you can't use more than one appliance (washing machine, tap, shower) at any one time). I don't know a lot about plumbing (more's the shame) but I would think a pump would help to make sure there is enough pressure. But our plumber tells us that water companies in France forbid the fitting of pumps. Is this correct? Does anyone have any ideas for what we can do to increase the pressure? All advice gratefully received! Thanks[/quote] You do not have a pressure problem but one of flow, a mistake that many people make. If water will flow upstairs at other times then you have sufficient pressure, in France the minimum is 2.5 bar to the foot of a building IIRC which will happily run a shower 25 meters above ground assuming sufficient flow and correctly sized pipes. Check that there is not a filter on the meter that is partially blocked, check the mousseurs on the upstairs taps for being partially blocked. Check the water pressure at your meter or on the ground floor, report back what it is. The pump you describe is called a surpresseur but i would not advocate its fitment without doing the above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I reckon it is the size of the piping or how they have been installed. If the pipes have been reduced or crossed and all that.I am not a plumber so I really have no idea.But I agree it is not a pressure problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave21478 Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Check everything Chancer suggests and also check if there is a pressure regulator on the incoming pipe and if it is partly clogged.A surpresseur could help, assuming everything else is fine, but they are limited by the size of their tank and having a long shower upstairs would likely leave it flagging.With a similar problem to remedy on a three storey house at the end of the supply line from the village source so pressure and flow were not great, I fitted a 2000 litre tank that is kept filled by a float valve. A surpesseur pump fed from the tank and a bladder pressure vessel were fitted in a parrallel loop to the normal mains supplying the house. Running the odd tap here or there or flushing a bog all is normal from the mains, but when demand is high....upstairs shower and the washing machine on etc....pressure drops low enough to kick on the pump and boost flow and pressure. Since the pump is fed from the 2000 litre reserve, there is no danger of it running out in normal use. (in hindsight, 1000 litres or even 500 would have been plenty, but the big tank was available cheap).It took careful fiddling of switch on and cut off pressures to get it to run reliably without cycling on and off causing surging, but it works really, really well and pressure and flow rates at the top of the house are fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I have a 3 storey place and a single 20mm supply feeding 6 apartments and at this time of year they are all workers often on the same shift running the toilets, showers, sinks etc at the same time, I realised early on that it was a problem waiting to happen, I did not want to pay out for a bigger main plus the increased standing charge and the commune did not want to cut off the water to the street to fit it, the TP contractor had never heard of hot tapping and thought I was winding him up, he still does! I wasn't sure if I had sufficient pressure for the showers on the top floor so rigged up a hose pipe with a shower head, dragged it up the side of the building and tried it! _ it worked so that was the first unknown resolved. To prioritise the flow to the higher flats at times of high demand I fitted simple fixed pressure regulators to the lower flats including my own, these proved to be problematic, they had to drip to work [:'(] and would fracture by just looking at them so they have all now been binned, they were too risky as I could return from a trip to the UK to find the cellar flooded, I have a distribution board with all the individual compteurs so on each feed to each apartment I fitted isolating ballofix type valves, these I use to throttle down the flow to the lower floor flats and they can also be used as a reminder if rent is not paid on time, never been necessary to date, there is a queue to pay me each month!!! I had done the mental planning to fit a system like Daves but luckily it has not been needed, just as well as there is not really the space for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericd Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 It could be a simple problem of having all water pipes feeding one from the other. I have replumbed part of the house using 25mm PE black cable that feed into what we call "une nourice or collecteur". http://www.plomberie-pro.com/Catalogue/plomberie/collecteur-nourrice/sanitaire-chauffage/debit-normal-20-27-a-vanne-d-arret-pro.htmFrom those, I have PER pipes going to each water points (same goes for hot system). All working well and no pressure loss along the system (shower, wc, basin on 1st floor, summer kitchen sink, washing machine and outdoor tap).In the other part of the house on the 1st floor, we have the kitchen and another Wc/Shower/sink that I haven't touched yet. All are fed from the same 12mm cold water pipe (without nourice fitted) and if someone runs the cold tap in the kitchen, on the other side of the wall, the person in the shower feels it.....)My take on it is that if you were to fit/get fitted same nourice systems, your problem would disappear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattF Posted February 23, 2017 Author Share Posted February 23, 2017 Thanks everybody for taking the time out to give your feedback and ideas. Very much appreciated. I will try what Chancer suggests and see if we have any improvement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG MAC Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 Check the gate in your stop cock hasn't dropped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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