Shower head and gauze filter for a lowly gravity fed shower

shaloo

Hi everyone

I have what I think is a gravity fed shower here in that it is not boosted with a pump, it is not an electric shower, simply two knobs on the wall to turn on the water and to adjust the temperature. Heat is provided from the hot cylinder

I have two issue with the shower. First is the shower head. We replace the shower head and flex hose every year or two due to wear and tear so I know a thing or two about crap shower heads, the head we have this minute being the worst shower head ever! The pressure from the shower isn't hair raising but with a decent shower head, it is perfectly adequate

Is there a shower head and flex hose combo plumbing folk turn to for gravity fed showers? I find those "rain" type heads and the heads with 100 different massage positions useless so looking for something simple with a narrow enough spray and a importantly, a flex hose that doesn't restrict the flow


My second issue, one that eventually effects all shower heads, is sediment in our water. We are on a group scheme and in wet weather we can get colouring from suspended peat sediment in the water. It is fine for the most part believe it or not but over time the sediment tends to build and clog up in the nozzles of the shower heads.

Is there some sort of simple gauze filter that I can screw onto the shower flex hose or if needs be, fit into the feed pipe to the shower. I have looked online but I see a lot of fancy units that need the filters replaced every few months. I am thinking something like the little plastic gauze you see stuck in the feed hoses on most washing machines, something that would stop sediment from getting to the shower head and something I could pop out every few weeks and clean said sediment out of


I hope I ain't asking to much here. I figured with a bit of research this time I will get a shower head that we are happy with and maybe find a solution to the sediment build up while we are at it


Thanks

whizbang

99% of shower units will have some sort of filter already fitted. If these are blocked it will not help your spray head issues..

I would love to find a decent washable filter unit too..I had a 10" cartridge unit fitted, but could not find a filter screen. 500 microns or bigger...

K.Flyer

I would suggest getting a very fine particle and carbon filter set up and fit it too your main incoming water supply pipe. Everything after that, including your attic tank etc, should stay fairly clean.
As for the shower, there are wide bore shower hoses available, see image, get the biggest, (woodies have them for approx 15E.), then look for a low pressure compatible shower head and remove any strainer or restrictor from it.

shaloo

whizbang wrote: »

99% of shower units will have some sort of filter already fitted. If these are blocked it will not help your spray head issues..

I would love to find a decent washable filter unit too..I had a 10" cartridge unit fitted, but could not find a filter screen. 500 microns or bigger...

If you are talking about the shower head when you say shower unit, I can't say I have ever seen a filter fitted on any of the heads I have used in the past. Instead the rubber nozzles all eventually become the filter! The mixer unit itself is buried behind the tiles so I don't know if it had a filter in it . It's an old Aqualisa mixer nearing 30 years on the go but to my knowledge it is working as well as it always has

K.Flyer wrote: »

I would suggest getting a very fine particle and carbon filter set up and fit it too your main incoming water supply pipe. Everything after that, including your attic tank etc, should stay fairly clean.
As for the shower, there are wide bore shower hoses available, see image, get the biggest, (woodies have them for approx 15E.), then look for a low pressure compatible shower head and remove any strainer or restrictor from it.

I am considering getting a big filtering and UV unit on the main feed into the house but from the research I have done, it isn't a cheap to do it properly while maintaining the good inwards pressure we have. Weighing against it too is that the council main passes the house and the water in it is now very good. So I need to decide, filter our own "free" supply or bite the bullet and buy the council supply. A little cheap shower gauze would give me a while longer to save for whichever option I decide to go with!

There isn't a Woodies anywhere near me unfortunately but I can see any amount of 11, 12 even 13mm bore hoses on Amazon so I will read the reviews and get a good one there. There are any amount of shower heads listed there too but too much marketing crap to wade through. I did come across this crowd (url: showerpowerbooster.co.uk/product-category/wright-choice-shower-heads-hoses-2/) who are selling small inline booster pumps (which might be an idea if all else fails) but also a head and 10mm bore hose they claim is good for low pressure systems. Reviews seems good and for the money, plus returns policy I might pick up a head and try it out