Mains cold water pressure issue

Poncke

Hi all,

I am looking for a fix for a low pressure issue on the cold water mains in the kitchen.

We have a water filter, but when that was first installed there was no issue. Cold water pressure from the mains was fine, as well as the hot water pressure from the pump.

All of a sudden the pressure on the cold water dropped, but the hot water pressure is still fine.

I cannot find the root cause, at first I thought it was because we ran the dish washer and washing machine at the same time, but even when no water is used in the house, the cold water pressure is quite low in the kitchen.

And it varies as well, sometimes it is reasonable, and then it drops again.

Is there a way to increase pressure on the cold water mains from the home? Or do I need to contact Irish Water? Or have a plumber look at it first?

Edit: asked the neighbours and other people in the estate but don't have this issue.

Thanks

Sleeper12

Poncke wrote:

And it varies as well, sometimes it is reasonable, and then it drops again.

Call Irish Water in the morning and explain it to them. Don't mention water filter. Just low pressure on kitchen sink. They will send an engineer to test the water pressure on the road for you free of charge. They are happy to do this as you might help them identify a leak on the road

CoBo55

Is the tank in the attic slow to fill? Is it just at the tap or are the machines slow to fill too?

mithAine

There are a number of reasons why you may experience no water or very low pressure on your property. Follow these steps to help you find out why :
1. Are there any works taking place in your area?
2. Check with your neighbors.
3. I have no water coming from the cold tap in my kitchen.
4. My cold kitchen tap is working but not the hot tap,
5. Check for frozen pipes or burst pipes.

Poncke

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Call Irish Water in the morning and explain it to them. Don't mention water filter. Just low pressure on kitchen sink. They will send an engineer to test the water pressure on the road for you free of charge. They are happy to do this as you might help them identify a leak on the road

Thanks will do, just want to mention the neighbours don't have this issue.

Poncke

mithAine wrote: »

There are a number of reasons why you may experience no water or very low pressure on your property. Follow these steps to help you find out why :
1. Are there any works taking place in your area?
2. Check with your neighbors.
3. I have no water coming from the cold tap in my kitchen.
4. My cold kitchen tap is working but not the hot tap,
5. Check for frozen pipes or burst pipes.

1. Not that I know of, from driving around I don't see anything. The estate was finished a while ago. But they are building a new estate across the road, but that shouldn't have an effect, because
2. the neighbours and other houses in the estate do not experience this issue
3. I do have water, as explained in the OP
4. I have hot water, as explained in the OP
5. It started happening a while ago, around summer

Poncke

CoBo55 wrote: »

Is the tank in the attic slow to fill? Is it just at the tap or are the machines slow to fill too?

Not sure if I understand the question. But I cannot see at what speed the tank is filling up.

In other words, I don't know what pressure I have on the pipes feeding the tank.

The tank is not the issue, it is only the cold water mains in the kitchen, every other tap in the house is fine.

CoBo55

Poncke wrote: »

Not sure if I understand the question. But I cannot see at what speed the tank is filling up.

In other words, I don't know what pressure I have on the pipes feeding the tank.

The tank is not the issue, it is only the cold water mains in the kitchen, every other tap in the house is fine.

Both the tank and the tap are on mains pressure, by just standing under the attic door run a tank fed tap, bath etc for a few minutes listen to hear if you can hear the water rushing into the tank. Does the washing machine fill as normal when running? If the lack of pressure is solely at the tap and everything else is filling as normal I'd say there's a problem with the filter. I had a similar problem but it was with the attic tank not filling, turned out to be a round pebble caught in the ballcock.

Poncke

CoBo55 wrote: »

Both the tank and the tap are on mains pressure, by just standing under the attic door run a tank fed tap, bath etc for a few minutes listen to hear if you can hear the water rushing into the tank. Does the washing machine fill as normal when running? If the lack of pressure is solely at the tap and everything else is filling as normal I'd say there's a problem with the filter. I had a similar problem but it was with the attic tank not filling, turned out to be a round pebble caught in the ballcock.

Ill check that bath/tank fill, but it looks like the dishwasher and washing mean are working as normal. The washing machine takes water through the pump though.

CoBo55

Poncke wrote: »

Ill check that bath/tank fill, but it looks like the dishwasher and washing mean are working as normal. The washing machine takes water through the pump though.

Is the washing machine plumbed to the hot water?
Anyway, try and whittle it down to whether it's just a kitchen tap problem or a general low water pressure issue, I'd still suspect the filter on the kitchen tap.

greasepalm

No one mentioned dirty filter needing a change or gauze dirty on tap.Might you have a reducing tap on your main feed fitted?

whizbang

You havent mentioned if you checked pressure before and after the mains filter.
Filters are there to collect particles in the water, and therefore they get full.
Then the flow is restricted, and outlet pressure drops.

Remove the filter element and try again.