Water pressure drops when neighbour's use theirs... At my wit's end!

[Carcon]

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone can help me here, as title says, I'm at my wit's end with this problem!

Following info might not be useful in places but the more info the better I hope!

I live in what we call 4 in a block, basically 2 bottom flats and two on top. It's an ex council property.

When the downstairs neighbour's use their water (directly below me) my pressure drops to near enough a trickle, hot water especially. I could live with the taps doing this but the main problem is the shower, it changes to either scalding hot or freezing cold in a matter of seconds, which quite frankly is dangerous, the amount of times I've had to jump out the way of being scalded alive is ridiculous.

Neighbour's say their water is fine, they have no issues whatsoever, pressure and temperature is fine, it just seems to be me.

Water board have been out twice, checked the pressure coming into the house from the street, all checked out fine. Nothing to do with them and nothing they can do they say.

To date I've had 4 different plumbers out and not one can figure out the problem. I even had one fit a brand new electric shower that eventually had to be removed because every time the pressure dropped it was blowing a fuse or something inside and shut down. I have a combi boiler and from what I understand the shower runs from that? (Please correct me if I'm wrong on that) One guy even ran a whole new pipe directly from the loft water tank to the shower but it never made a difference.

I've spoken to another few neighbour's on the street, (all the houses are the same) and they all say their pressure is great with no drops or anything. It just seems to be me this happens to.

I just don't know what to do with this, is really infuriating because nobody can figure it out.

Please does anyone have any suggestions? Any additional info I've missed I will do my best to answer, i just really need a solution to this.

Thank you.

 

[Carcon]

Try your stopcock.

Im definitely going to get it replaced so I can rule it out at the very least. Thanks for the suggestion

 

[DevsAd]

It does sound as tho' your combi is being fed directly from the mains (which is normal), and also that your mains is being shared by the flat below (not so good).

As far as I understand, all the WB will do is to confirm that the pressure and flow at ground level is compliant. What the flats then suffer is up to them. If there had been 4 different stopcocks/meters out on the pavement - one for each flat - then I don't think you would have any issues, I'm pretty sure. I don't know if there's any obligation on the WB to change this - eg provide individual supplies?

Some things are weird, tho'. You almost certainly have your taps running directly from the mains but you also mention that there are storage tanks in the loft? Which flats do they supply?

Another weird thing - you also said "I spoke to the plumber fitting it and he checked out their fittings and said it was all fine, also turned the water pressure up a bit, made a very slight difference but didn't change anything with the temperature/pressure drops."

I suggest you ask this plumber what he actually did to 'turn the pressure up' because there's no way that a plumber working in the flat below you should be able to alter the supply to your flat! It almost suggests that the cold rising mains passes through the flat below first, and they have 'control' over it before it continues to you! If they have a pressure reducing valve fitted to their incoming mains (ie - is that what the plumber 'adjusted'?) then it shouldn't be allowed to affect you, so you'd need to insist that your mains comes off that main rising main before any such valve or control. (That's all dependent on the actual situation.)

What to do? Blimey...

I guess first check the obvious - like fully-open/faulty stopcocks as mentioned before.

Priority, I think, ask that plumber what he did to increase the pressure; where is this control, how come it affects you, basically - what the hell is going on?!

The solution to your problem comes down to what the cause is. You cannot necessarily compare your flat to the others in the block or street because you don't know what systems they are using. For instance, it might be that everyone else is using the cold storage tanks in the loft and therefore have no issues! Perhaps you are the only one still directly on the mains (apart from the flat below you who 'steals' all your pressure...)

If there isn't an obvious 'cause' of this that can be properly resolved (eg by adding a direct mains supply from the ground to your flat by-passing everyone else, or finding an 'issue' in your neighbour's flat that can be fixed) then you may be looking at coming up with your own 'cures'. The most reliable, I think, would be for you to also use a stored water tank in t'loft rather than relying on the unreliable mains powered water. Since you have a combi boiler, tho', this water tank would need pumping down to your flat to enable an adequate enough flow to your combi boiler.

There are other solutions such as mains booster units which are a bit like a stored water tank except it does so under pressure (something like Stuart Turner Flomate Mains Boost Extra 100 Low Water Pressure Pump 46635 . This will pump up the mains supply and store it under pressure for you to then use in your flat - at whatever rate you want (so no further pumps needed). It automatically keeps itself topped up. If you use up the whole tank 'cos you have a long shower, then it'll carry on pumping up the mains to keep giving you at least 12 litres per minutes. You can get them with larger tanks too.

You'd need to confirm with the WB whether you are allowed to fit such a booster on your mains - most allow out, but some possibly don't.

But, first ask that plumber what he did in the flat below yours to boost your pressure a wee bit - 'cos that sounds wrong.

 

[DevsAd]

I'm not clear what the flat setup is: are you saying there are two flats side by side on the ground floor, and two flats side by side on an upper floor? And that one of these upper flats is yours?

If so, that means you have a neighbour to your side at the exact same level? And they have no issues? Can you find out if they also have a combi boiler, or do they have a hot water cylinder? (And if they have a hwc, can you take a photo of it?!)

 

[Selectsands]

Hiya
You wrote this
I have a combi boiler and from what I understand the shower runs from that? (Please correct me if I'm wrong on that) One guy even ran a whole new pipe directly from the loft water tank to the shower....

Do you have a cold water tank in the loft or you’re on mains, cold directly to the taps , if you have a combi then this would be hot and cold ???
Thanks

 

[Carcon]

Time for an update...

Long story short, it's the mains pipe coming from the outside that's causing the problems. Had the water board and Dynorod out multiple times the past couple of weeks. Turns out the downstairs neighbour's is also having issues but nowhere near as bad as me so they are happy with what they have.
Pipe is either very badly furred, blocked or damaged in some way that is restricting the flow. Neighbour next door has a flow of 30, I have 10! Dynorod back out tomorrow to give me a quote for new pipe. Hoping it will be covered by building insurance but probably not!

Appreciate all the replies and advice given.