GetTravelling

We have a country (rustic) house in Spain, the water comes into the house from a shared reservoir (pozo as they call it in Spain).This has been okay in summer, but the water pressure is very low and so now that we are coming into winter we are finding that the pressure is not enough to trigger the gas (butano) combi water boiler, so we are having to have cold showers at the moment.We have been advised that a water pump could solve this problem. But we asked a local tradesman and he has quoted 1000 euros to install this, saying that we need a water reservoir installed also?

Not sure that a reservoir should be required? The situation currently is that we have a water meter and pipework running from that for about 20 metres to the inlet in our house. Can we avoid the a reservoir installation and just connect the pump between the Water meter and the house to send the water to the house inlet with more force?

Thanks in advance,

T

bobd22

I would guess the reservoir is to ensure there is sufficient water to be pressurised? If the pressure supplying the pump is so low then there will not be the water there to be pressurised by the pump. I'm no plumbing expert but I'm nearly sure pumps power showers etc need a certain level of pressure to function correctly. Poor water pressure is common in Spain. I remember when we bought our house being told the water pressure in the village was good. The shower though was useless. That was because it was fed from the deposito on the terrace so gravity. I altered it to come via the mains and it's been fine since. Other option for your issue could be an electric water heater to feed your shower as they don't need water pressure to trigger them. We use electric not gas.
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snikpoh

Yes, you need a pump and a reservoir. Helped friends do this but the price was much less than that.

fidobsa

I think I would try to get the boiler adjusted to detect the lower pressure. It might only be set like that so that the water won't get too hot but you could achieve that using a thermostatic shower mixer. I'm guessing that it will be like UK in that you need someone licenced to work on gas appliances.

spainrico

Assuming you have good mains electric easiest and cheapest solution is to install an electric water heater.

I changed to electric (OK for different reasons) but have never regretted it.

Rosemary

Beat me to it.

We changed over too, not due to water pressure, simply a case of the heater needing replacing so changed from gas to electric. Like you, no regrets.

Rosemary

Barriej

Why not spend the money and get a solar water heater which then runs through the boiler.
Even in winter if the roof is not obscured by trees you should be able to get 40c from the unit and with the tank on the roof the pressure would be enough to fire the boiler if you want the water hotter.
In summer the water temp can get to around 80c so you would save on gas.
Even in Denmark in the winter I've experienced water temps of 50c in the late afternoon just from a solar heater.

This is the standard in the Caribbean, south America and many other parts of the world...
You would have to work out the cost but the systems rum without much maintainence for years.

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spainrico

Far more convenient and I bought a good quality efficient one so I do not believe it is expensive to run.

Yes agree we should be using more solar.

Listen Very Carefully

Our house in Italy had low water pressure mainly due to poorly maintained mains supply.Our plumber put in a blue 1000l water tank in the basement and a pump and everything was fine.A few years later the mains were renewed but we kept the water tank as a back up in case of water shortages

philat98

We have the same trouble in Italy. Everything is fine in the summer with the solar heater but in the winter the boiler doesnt like the low pressure.

GetTravelling

Thanks for the feedback, and was this a big job to do, how many did days did it take?

GetTravelling

Thank you for the feedback, so is that quite a technical job to do, or is it simply some settings within the boiler controls?

snikpoh

Takes no more than a day to install the tank and new pump

Listen Very Carefully

Yes I seem to recall it was no more than a day or two

bfg69bug

the pump and the tank (1000L square tank) is no more than 300€ you might have to pay delivery on the tank ?. 20m of pipe and a few fittings.. under 400€ for parts.

is his work worth 600 euros ?