Rental propety - poor water pressure - what to do?

Hannaho

I have a property rented out in an area of Dublin with very poor water pressure - it's been this way even when I lived in the property twenty years ago.

Recenlty the tenants have started to complain that on some mornings they cannot have a shower - there is an electric Mira Elite, mains fed shower, and also a shower over the bath in the bathroom.

We lived in the house two years ago for six months while our own house was being renovated - there were no problems with the shower, even busiest time of day in the mornings, and with low water pressure in the area, we still managed to have shower. No other tenant in the last 20 years has had a problem with the shower, i.e. is they could have a shower even if the pressure isn't great - these current tenants are saying that they can't have a shower at all in the a.m. - they don't want to use the one in the bath as it has no emertion timer, though it also works with the gas too.

I had the guy out from Mira showers to look at it and it was working fine when he saw it. He said, however, that he knew the area had very low water pressure, and that initially a red light had come on in the shower to indicate this.

I have contacted the plumber that I use - he said that a pump could be put on the mains outside, if I could find somewhere to put it, and this would increase the water pressure, however, this is going to work out at e650. Meanwhile the tenants are getting hugely stroppy, saying they are paying enough rent for this not to happen - they do have another shower also - they are paying slightly under market rent. What is the best option here re shower?

Mrs OBumble

Take the plumber's advice.

And give your tenants a discount on the rent while you get it sorted!

cpoh1

Two options:

Pump the mains or relocate the water supply for the electric showers to a tank in the attic. This is assuming the plumber checked that there was no leaks from the stopcock to the house and that the filter on the shower is not blocked?

For all the water protesters out there this is why we need Irish water and a decent standard of service to be developed!

Michael D Not Higgins

I wouldn't give the tenants a discount, you've been notified of a problem and you've identified a solution. In the long run €650 is not much for some peace from your tenants. You'll be taken for a mug if you go appeasing them every which way.

mistress_gi

A water pump would solve all the issues. If I were you I would get a refurbished pump (I can pm you a guy that does them if you want) and just get a plumber to fit it. I had this done before and paid 70 euro for the pump and about 100 for the fitting. So it works out a lot cheaper. Shop around, it will make your money go further.

miezekatze

The price you were given for the pump seems a bit excessive. You probably don't need a really strong/expensive one unless it's a huge house with lots of bathrooms. I think we paid around half that for ours (including fitting), the water pressure in the shower would have been insufficient without a pump. This is a common enough issue I think, I think most people I know are using a pump.

cpoh1

Only downside to a pump is that they are noisy especially if your mains comes in underneath the sink.

mistress_gi

cpoh1 wrote: »

Only downside to a pump is that they are noisy especially if your mains comes in underneath the sink.

True but if you connect it to a switch you can switch it on when you need it and off if you don't! Simplez

spaceHopper

Was a water meter installed? I've heard that it's lead to pressure problems in some parts of dublin. I'd just put a pump in and have done with it.

irlirishkev

As others have said, go for the pump idea.

Also, just for reference sake, anytime I've been anywhere with an electric shower, having lived with pumped showers, I've always been horrified at how low the pressure feels in comparison. Horses for courses I guess..