Are modern taps flow rates just terrible?

drogon.

So over the year we upgraded most of our taps in the bathroom and kitchen from stand alone to mixer taps. However we are noticing that the flow rate is terrible. Like previously to fill a watering jug with cold water from the kitchen would take 20 seconds, now it almost takes a good minute to complete (even though we have it set to full cold). Plus the water comes directly from the mains in the kitchen too. Is this quite common that most modern taps are terrible ? Find the bathroom taps the same

LastFridayNight

Modern taps have aerators. Try removing it to see if that's the problem.

ongarite

Maybe you bought taps designed for UK, EU high mains water pressure. This will give the exact symptoms you are seeing.

Mains pressure in Ireland is very low & can require different taps.

cnocbui

Ireland has neolithic plumbing based on pressure from gravity with stupid tanks in attics, providing 0.5 bar if you are lucky. European fittings are designed for at least 1 bar of pressure or higher, which might be your problem.

Given I am from somewhere where mains water pressure is 14 times higher than the Irish norm, I couldn't be bothered waiting a good portion of my life for sinks, baths and toilet cisterns to fill with water, not to mention standing under a pathetic dribble not worthy of the term 'shower', so I installed a Stuart Turner 3.0 bar twin pump in such a way it feeds that pressure to every fitting in the house, except the kitchen sink cold, which is fed at several bar from a well anyway. I had to change out some minor parts in the toilet cistern inlet valves to ones that could take the higher pressure, but that was about it.

This sytem eliminates the need for 'power showers' and outperforms them and has probably saved weeks of time not spent waiting for things to fill.

drogon.

Thanks all for your comments, so all the fixtures were brought from Woodies or Screwfix. Just finding it annoying as some as mentioned waiting for stuff to fill-up. We do have a Stuart Turner pump, but is connected to both the showers and honestly would not want that connected to all fixtures just to the additional noise.

Lenar3556

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058380891/are-modern-taps-flow-rates-just-terrible

Any quality tap will have a design pressure rating on it. Most likely the taps you have are designed for a higher pressure than they are connected to.

For the best flow on non pressurised systems, avoid quarter turn and get taps with traditional spindles and minimum design pressures of 0.1 - 0.2 bar.

mickdw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122843880#Comment_122843880

Will your plumbing safely take that pressure if it's an old system?

mulbot

Any chance you switched the fittings from feed to tap with the flexi hoses?

drogon.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122844336#Comment_122844336

Yes, I believe almost all of them.. Both bathrooms and kitchen all have flexi hoses now.

drogon.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122844237#Comment_122844237

Interesting, yeah we went away from spindle to mixer taps that turn a quarter. But thanks for pointing this out, I really don't want to go back to traditional cold/hot water spindle taps so I am happy one way.

mulbot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122844600#Comment_122844600

Moat likely the problem if you had good pressure before- i meet a lot plumbers in my work, they hate these for that reason.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122844262#Comment_122844262

It ought to. There might be issues with one or two things along the lines of the toilet cistern float valves, such as I had, but that was a very easy and cheap fix. The one snag one might have is having to fit a Wessex(?) valve to the hot water cylinder to prevent air being sucked down the vent.

I have been operating my setup for about two decades now.

Savage_Henry

I hit the same issue. You have to look for LOW PRESSURE (0.5bar) or GRAVITY FED taps, which considerably reduces your options.