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Excuse me if this is a bit long winded. I live in the top floor (loft conversion) of a converted house. Recently, the owner had a water meter installed. The mains pipe comes through the floor by the front door (ground floor). Originally the mains ran diagonally up the stairs to the first floor. Now the mains runs vertically out of the floor until it clears the front door and once above the front door it enters the meter via a pushfit elbow. It comes out of the meter via another elbow and returns to ground floor level (where it started) and then continues its course diagonally up the stairs. It has now been up and down twice before it has reached the first floor. I am on the second floor and have an electric shower that no longer works because the water flow is so poor on my floor. I can only assume this is because theoretically, the mains now has to travel 3 floors (because of the way they installed the meter). Thames water were called back but said they are supplying the house with 2.5 bar. The engineer said there was a pump that you can have installed that would pull the mains pressure a little better into the house. Does anyone have any ideas or knowledge of this? I am using the bathroom that belongs to the lower floor because I cannot use my own and the tennants are not too pleased.

Thanks, Tony.

I think you need to get a second engineers opinion about your installation. Who was he anyway???

My first disagreement is with the water pressure. 2.5 bar is poor. Most properties will find their pressure is in excess of 3.5 bar with some up to over 5 bar.

Another point is you cannot fit a pump in a mains feed and there are sound reasons as to why this can't be done. To satisfy demand, pumps need a reserve of water to push to an outlet. Pumps pump they don't suck efficiently! Neither can they draw water from the street as the main pipe will only allow a certain amount of flow. If the flow is less than the pump is trying to pull, then the mains will be in a vacuum and if the pipe is perforated it could suck ground water into the drinking water. In older properties water mains were often laid in the same trench as the sewer pipe. I say no more!

If the new meter has significantly increased the length of main the water has to travel the new pipe should have been increased in size to at least 22mm.

How and where did the 'engineer' test the water pressure? How many metres higher than this point is your shower head?