Pressure diagnosis
Whole-house or one fixture. Two different problems entirely.
Tottenham
Tottenham is a village with a lot of new houses attached to it
A small old core with subdivisions built onto the side of it, all drawing on the same municipal system. The most common thing people call us about here is water pressure — and it is not always the house that is at fault.
Pressure, flow, and which one you actually have
They feel identical at the tap and they have completely different causes, so it is worth being precise.
Pressure is the force behind the water. It is set by the municipal system and by how high above the main your fixture sits — an upstairs shower always has less than a basement tap, in every house, everywhere.
Flow is how much water actually arrives per minute. A pipe narrowed by scale or corrosion still has full pressure behind it and delivers a trickle.
Sorting which you have decides everything about the fix. Low flow at one fixture is usually that fixture or its supply run. Low pressure everywhere, at particular times of day, is often not your house at all.
Why the evening is worse
If your pressure drops noticeably between roughly five and eight in the evening and is fine at other times, that is peak demand on the municipal system rather than a fault in your plumbing. Everybody in the village is showering, cooking and running laundry in the same three hours.
It is genuinely worth knowing, because it means the answer is not a repipe. In a house sensitive to it, a booster pump can even things out — but a booster on a system that is already delivering adequate pressure just makes noise and wears out, so it is a fix that needs the diagnosis first.
The device most people do not know they have
Many houses have a pressure reducing valve where the water service enters, deliberately lowering incoming pressure to protect the plumbing. They are a good thing. They also fail, usually gradually, and a failing one produces exactly the symptom people blame on the municipality: pressure that has slowly got worse over a year or two, everywhere in the house at once.
Checking it is quick. Replacing it is a small job. It is one of the first things we look at when someone describes whole-house pressure that has declined slowly rather than suddenly.
Most requested here
What Tottenham calls us about
Dominated by pressure complaints, and by what is actually causing them.
Fixtures & valves
Aerators, cartridges and stops. Often the whole answer at one tap.
Water heaters
The first wave of Tottenham subdivisions is reaching replacement age.
Drain cleaning
Cleared properly, then diagnosed so it does not come straight back.
Questions
Water pressure in Tottenham
Why is my water pressure lower in the evening?
Because everyone else is using water at the same time. Between roughly five and eight, a village-scale system is under its heaviest demand of the day. If your pressure is fine at ten in the morning and poor at six, that pattern is the answer, and no amount of repiping changes it.
What is a pressure reducing valve and do I have one?
A device fitted where the water service enters, deliberately lowering incoming pressure to protect your plumbing. Many houses have one and most owners have never noticed it. They matter because they fail gradually, producing pressure that has slowly declined over a year or two everywhere at once.
Can I just fit a booster pump?
Sometimes, but not as a first move. A booster raises pressure, so it helps if your problem genuinely is low incoming pressure. It does nothing if the real problem is restricted flow through corroded pipe, and fitting one to an adequate system just adds noise and something else to fail.
My upstairs shower is weak but the kitchen tap downstairs is fine. Why?
Partly physics, partly plumbing. Every storey up costs pressure, so an upstairs fixture always has less to work with. What is not normal is a big difference, and that usually means a restriction on the run upstairs, a clogged shower head, or a valve somebody never fully reopened.
Does a water softener reduce water pressure?
It can, slightly, because the water passes through a resin bed and that adds resistance — though a correctly sized unit in good condition should not make a noticeable difference. Where it becomes obvious is an undersized softener, or one overdue for service. We do not service softeners.
Tell us when the pressure is worst
Call for anything urgent, or book online and we'll confirm a window.