What is Water Pressure?
If a new bathroom refurbishment is on the horizon, or if you are having problems with water appliances leaking in your house, you may have had the word “Low Water Pressure” or “High Water Pressure” thrown in your direction.
Water pressure is a standard used to describe the rate at which water may flow in plumbing fixtures. The unit for this is the “Bar”, this is the force required to shoot water straight into the air to a height of 10 metres A house’s water pressure is basically determined by it’s elevation in relation to the reservoir which feeds it water. Homes in the hills above a reservoir would struggle with low water pressure as they would rely onwater being pumped, whereas houses at low elevations would be able to rely on the natural water head of the falling water to drive water pressure.
The adjacent diagram, prepared by Anglian Water clearly shows the difference in water pressures between houses. If you still aren’t sure if you have high or low water pressure, then follow our simple instructions below:
- Turn off all taps, washing machines, dishwashers and all other water using appliances.
- Turn a tap on full power and fill a measuring jug up for ten seconds. Record how much water was collected.
- Multiply this by 6 to get flow rate in litres per minute.
For example, if you collect 1.2 litres of water in the 10 seconds, then your flow rate is 12 litres per minute. Our general guide is:
- Less than 10 Litres per Minute is Poor Water Pressure
- Between 10 and 15 Litres per Minute is Acceptable Water Pressure
- Above 15 Litres per Minute is Good Water Pressure
All of our Taps & Brassware products show a minimum operating pressure to ensure that the product can perform to its maximum.
