Water Pressure Booster?

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ToolsRMe

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When I was living in New York City (thirty years ago) I had a shower that was GREAT. The water tank for the apartment complex was on the twelfth floor and I lived on the second floor. I think the water pressure in my apartment was 120 psi.

Since then I have lived in a variety of places with showers that varied from awful to almost great. I want great.

In my current house I think the water pressure is around 60 psi. It's OK and the shower is just on this side of great. I brought 3/4-inch pipe to the Hans Grohe thermostatic control valve (I love those things) and then half inch from the diverter to the shower head (which was my only option, sigh).

Price was no object for me. Nonetheless, the best shower head I found was one from ACE Hardware for about $35 flow restrictor removed.

Recently I was watching HGTV and they briefly mentioned someone manufacturing a water pressure booster for a shower. I've been looking for one for years but the mention flew by so fast that I couldn't catch if I had heard correctly or who the manufacturer might be.

Anyone know?
 

Verdeboy

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You would need some kind of little pump that could be hooked up in-line with your shower inlet, where you could dial the pressure. I've never heard of such a beast. Maybe others have.
 

Bob NH

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http://www.pressurebooster.com/130voltsystem.html

Expensive but at least it's not a joke.

You would need to increase the pressure to both hot and cold lines to get better flow from the shower. The rig at the link is a multistage centrifugal pump with their version of the Cycle Stop Valve that you see discussed on this site. It will increase the pressure throughout your house at the expense of more power. It would go in your cold water supply.

This IS NOT a recommendation. It probably isn't even the best or least expensive system available. It may or may not work as advertised.

If I needed more pressure, I would "roll my own" with a pump and maybe a tank and/or CSV. A little multistage booster pump will give you 120 psi in your system if you want it. Be prepared to fix some leaks, and some things might not survive 120 psi.

I suppose you could plumb it in between the shower valve and the shower head with a flow switch. It would still depend on how much the valve would deliver but you could probably get a stinging shower. It would be like your personal pressure washer.

The little 1/3 HP Dayton/Grainger stock number 2P372 would add 60 psi at 5.8 GPM ($305) or the 1/2 HP stainless model 2PC42 ($546) would add 60 psi at 7.3 GPM. You would also need a flow switch and maybe a relay to turn the pump on when the shower runs.

If you give a good engineer enough money and define your requirements, you can get most anything you want.

Anything that hangs on the end of your shower pipe is probably illegal and may be unsafe, and maybe ineffective. If it doesn't use electrical power, it is a fraud.
 

ToolsRMe

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Bob NH said:
http://www.pressurebooster.com/130voltsystem.html

A little multistage booster pump will give you 120 psi in your system if you want it. Be prepared to fix some leaks, and some things might not survive 120 psi.

Wow. Thanks!

In terms of 120 psi harming things, if I remember correctly (and I may not!), most bath and kitchen fixtures are rated for 250 psi because these manufacturers sell into Europe where water pressure is much higher.

Caveat: My recollection on this point is dim.

In any event, water hammer produces much high short-term pressure. If your pressure is nominally 70 psi then water hammer can cause a pressure spike to 350 psi. See http://www.plastomatic.com/water-hammer.html
 

Speedbump

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Bob NH, I'm glad you said that link was not a recommendation. Those Stainless European pumps are far less than quality. When I was selling Myers pumps, they offered one called the Quick Draw. They should have called it the Quickly Dead. It was all metric. So if you wanted to work on it, you needed special tools. Didn't matter though, because there wasn't much to fix. When they died, it was permanent.

bob...
 
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