I recall over 20 years ago This Old House did an apartment in London. It was a top floor apartment. I was amazed that the apartment had a pump to raise water pressure to an acceptable level. From what I recall, the plumber said it was common there because the pipes in the city were so old.
Is it common world wide to have pumps in homes or apartments to raise water pressure?
I know my home doesn’t have any need for a pump. We get good water pressure from the street service.
I don’t know about low pressures in the US or Europe, but Brazilians definitely have low water pressure. Most homes around Rip de Janeiro have a water tank on the roof and an electric pump that boosts street pressure enough to fill the tank.
That means that on a hot summer day there is no such thing as a cool shower.
There may have been a holding tank in that London apartment too. I just don’t remember. It would make sense to fill the tank and shut off the pump.
New York City provides enough pressure to go up about six stories. Any building taller than that requires a rooftop tank and a pump to fill it.
Hello
I am vacationing in Colombo, Sri Lanka ; houses here have a sump/tank below grade that receives water from the mains. This water is then pumped to a tank on the roof, usually the highest point in the house. These elevated tanks provide decent pressure but some houses also have a pressure pump for people who want really forcefull showers. Our house has such a pressure pump.
In the US, I live in a MidWest suburb and the mains water pressure is 70psi . Our showers have decent pressure but still noticeably less pressure than my shower here in Sri Lanka.
A few figures from doing a bit of poking around:
Normal residential water pressure should be in the range of 45 - 60 PSI. Much over 80 starts creating problems from too much pressure (banging pipes, leaks, toilets that don’t shut off, etc), and requires installation of a regulator.
Water pressure decreases by 0.43 PSI per vertical foot.
It seems to me that if the city is maintaining reasonable pressure for use at ground level without reduction, you aren’t going to get usable pressure for more than six floors or so - you’ll lose something like 20 PSI.
Going over about 5 to 6 stories in most cities will require a “Boosted water system”. The main pressure at the Preciedo in SF was 120 PSI. It was funny because the Letterman Ditigal Arts center had a pumps that the cut out was about 100 PSI.