FAQs - Booster Pumps

Water pressure is the force water that is pushed through water pipes into premises. This pressure determines how quickly water flows from your taps, shower heads and appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers.

If the water pressure in your household pipes are low, then water will flow slowly out of your taps or shower, taking it longer to fill up a sink, bath or shower. This is especially true for an upstairs bathroom (after all, the water may need to travel upwards against gravity to get to the source)

Water pressure is measured in bar or psi (pounds per square inch). One bar of water pressure is needed to raise water 10 metres high, so the higher the water must travel, the lower the water pressure will be.

Gravity creates pressure naturally, so when your water comes to you, it is already pressurized. In some cases, booster stations help to maintain the pressure throughout the water lines. If your water comes from a private well, then your water is pressurized through a tank that maintains a range of pressure

There are differences between water pressure and water flow. Water flow is the volume of water delivered and is measured in litres per minute. Water pressure is the force or speed the water is delivered. Both are affected by the size and condition of the pipe work the water is flowing through.

Due to regulation, you cannot pump directly onto a mains water line for the whole property, without storing water and creating an overflow. To achieve this we supply the boosters systems with break tanks, as they are commonly known, to compliantly store the water to act as a reservoir and which the pump draws from.

Compact Units

If you use lots of appliances at the same time you water pressure will reduce, such as dishwashers and washing machines. If you have an older property, you may find your water pipe is smaller than those used in modern houses. Smaller pipes supply less water and can reduce pressure and flow.

When water pressure in your house is low, it is most likely the water pressure coming into your house is lower than the property requires. However, if you notice that the low pressure is only to just one or a few appliances then it could be an issue with that fixture, or a pipe that runs into your property.

The amount of water pressure in your home may vary depending on the time of the day and the ground level of your property. Check that the water meter valve and the main shut off valve are fully opened.

However, while these factors play a part, your water authority is required to supply a minimum of 0.7 bar of pressure. If the mains pressure into your property is consistently low, you may need to fit a booster pump to your plumbing system.

To see our full range of booster pump sets, please click - Booster Pump Sets

It is possible to boost mains water pressure. To do this a booster pump can be fitted to the mains cold water supply. In compliance with water fitting regulations, this is up to 12 litres per minute. Generally, a mains booster pump can improve the performance of all the water appliances and fixtures in your home.

There are two reasons why water may need to be boosted: (1) to give a better flow and pressure at the draw-off point in a domestic situation, or (2) as a method of raising the water supply in high-rise buildings above the height that the mains will supply.

A booster pump set, helps to get to optimum pressure within the current system, so you should get constant water pressure whether you are downstairs in the kitchen or up on the 3rd floor having a shower.

‘Packaged’ pumping sets or Booster Sets are installed consisting of dual pumps (unless single pump is selected, then this would only be one pump) to overcome the problem of failure of (or the need to renew) one of the pumps. The second pump also assists at times of high demand on the system, cutting in as necessary. To prevent pump seizure and stagnation of water, the pumps should be designed to work alternately. Two types of system will be found: those using pressure-sensing devices and those using float switches.

Break tanks are used to help boost pressure within a water system, where the current water pressure is not strong enough to supply the requirements of the building. Typically, break tanks are fitted with an air gap between the inlet and maximum water level to prevent backflow into the mains water supply.

To determine the size of the break tank required, there are a few things to consider.

Occupancy of the building

This is a big factor, as you need to understand how much water is required within the property. For example a hotel requires more water storage per bed space than a hostel.

Below are some examples of recommended minimum storage levels for each type of premises.

Hotel - 200 Litres per bed space

Office without Canteen - 40 Litres per employee

Office with Canteen - 45 Litres per employee

Restaurant - 7 litres per meal

Primary School - 15 litres per pupil

Secondary School - 20 Litres per pupil

Nursing Home - 120 Litres per bed space

(Source: BS EN 806 Part 2)

Please consider when using this calculation, the peak occupancy of the building. 

When sizing for a domestic building, a rough guide of 90 litres per bed space should be sufficient, however high-end properties may require additional storage. 

Another consideration would be the expected peak flow of the premises. This is calculated when sizing a booster set. In determining the peak flow rate, we must consider how much water storage must be provided to facilitate this flow rate.

Tanks Direct recommend that a minimum of 15 minutes' storage, according to the peak flow rate of the booster set, should be provided in a booster set break tank within a commercial installation. For example, a booster set with a peak design flow rate of 1.1 litres/second, or 66 litres/minute, requires a break tank with a capacity of at least 990 litres. 

Other factors such as the tank inlet flow rate and the usage patterns of the building should also be taken into account - buildings with a poor rate of mains water supply will require greater storage. This will also be influenced by the siting of the break tank - a tank on the ground floor of a building will fill at a higher rate than a tank on an upper floor or in the roof space. Siting a tank in the roof space of a building is likely to necessitate a larger storage volume.

For this, we would require a breakdown of the cold water outlet for the whole property, i.e. 2 W/C’s, 4 Wash hand basins and a shower. Once we have calculated the building water demand, we can then specify the right storage tank, this is an industry standard of a capacity to cope with a 10-minute run time at full demand, most 3-4 bedroom properties for example work out at around 250L.

For most single property installation, pressure isn’t a huge concern, as low head booster systems that run up to 3 bar will produce more than sufficient pressure for a 2-story property.

This depends on a couple of factors, the demand of the building if you want it sharing across 2 pumps, but also the importance of the water supply, for example, manufacturing facilities who need wash down cannot afford the downtime of a single pump etc. With a twin pump system, you can share the duty across 2 pumps, which both pumps would run at 50% of total duty, or on duty standby, where each pump would be capable of 100% of total duty.

This is a common issue, which is why we offer a compact solution as the Flyvar Booster system which is a compact system where the pump(s) are in the tank to save space, these can also be installed externally with the addition of an inverter housing cover, to protect it from the elements.

This is a service we can carry out, however with the use of modern technically, we only require the standard set of information, and then just basic measurements of the space it is going into, widths of doors and room space etc, all of this we can now do with the use of online video calls and pictures.

Commissioning would be recommended. These are specialist systems and without a commissioning visit, there is no peace of mind with the end user that the warranty as not been affected due to incorrect installation. Incorrect operation is  easily done if the system is not correctly commissioning, so this is a service we offer ourselves, so there is a clear line of liability if something was to go wrong with the set, this protects everyone.