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Long story, short:
Boiler needs replacing, had mate round last night to quote.
He checked water flow and it seems low @ 12l/m so had a look at the stop valves (there are 2, one on the main that comes into the kitchen and one in the downstairs toilet). Main valve didn't appear to be working properly so..
Turned off mains at the cover (about 30m from the kitchen), removed the old stop valve and replaced with a straight speedfit pipe then turned main back on and we now have about 4l/m flow.
Cue many confused faces...should have increased (or stayed the same at worst) the flow but it's dropped right off.
Seems to be one thing after another with this house.
Any thoughts? Have contacted Severn Trent but not sure how long it will take them to come out...
Firstly I know Severn Trent are extremely busy at the moment.
Which stop tap have you removed, the one in the kitchen? Did this stop tap stop all water in the house? What did the other one do?
We removed the one on the main in the kitchen. It didn't work at all.
The one in the toilet does work.
Not sure on how the pipes actually go around downstairs but with the main stop fully open we could turn off the water with the one in the toilet. The one on the main into the kitchen did nothing at all.
What we can't fathom is why taking a tap out (that didn't work) and replacing it with a piece of pipe has drastically reduced the flow 🙁
has closing/opening the stop in the toilet deformed/damaged the pillar washer and so now its in inhibiting flow?
Some sort of smart sensor / valve between the stopcock outside and the house which has responded to a perceived increase in flow?
has closing/opening the stop in the toilet deformed/damaged the pillar washer and so now its in inhibiting flow?
Dunno, will check that.
Some sort of smart sensor / valve between the stopcock outside and the house which has responded to a perceived increase in flow?
I suggested this..hopefully ST will be able to inform us if this is the case.
Was the main valve easy to operate? If it's been there for yonks could have been stiff/have a weakened stem. Maybe it shut OK but sheared off halfway through opening back up. Does the handle just spin now, or feel "loose"?
Not a plumber (yet) but I've dealt with shitty valves for the last 13 years and I've had more than I care to remember throw their hand in when being operated.
Hopefully it's a washer inside but...
if it's anything like mine, the old main is full of decades of accumulated crap. Opening and closing the stop outside has caused some of that to break off from somewhere round the tap area and move further down the line and lodge in the smaller gauge supply pipe between the common supply and my home, causing a notable restriction (3l a minute is about max flow for me, yay)
The solution was to dig up my supply pipe from the common one, which would include half my kitchen, and replace it or, the option we've gone for which is to get a brand new supply laid in from the main.
Where are you measuring the flow? If on a tap with an aerator then it could be blocked. By turning things off you might have disturbed more debris causing worse flow. Always check flow at an unregulated outlet.
Faulty flow meter?
Where are you measuring the flow?
Just a normal tap
Faulty flow meter?
It's visually lower pressure too
Hopefully it’s a washer inside but…
I hope so too. We don't need the expense of putting a new main in..
Call Severn Trent, they'll do a test at the boundary stop tap (if they can) and an internal test to compare.
4lpm is below level of service standard, they should give you a time scale when you call.
4lpm is below level of service standard
Which iirc is 9l/m so not exactly loads. If the OP was getting 12 it's very unlikely it'll be kerb side so as much as it's worth getting ST to check I'd suggest it's going to be the OP's problem.
ST have raised the issue with their "pressure team" who will evaluate the problem and should call me back tomorrow with a response..