So you woke up just in time to have a quick shower and a snack before going to work. You stepped into the bathroom and guess what...you remember that your shower is far from being an invigorating rain shower and instead feels more like a drizzle shower. Painfully familiar? Clearly you need a solution to increase water pressure. We get it. This is the most common complaint we receive from our customers. But good news; help is at hand! Thanks to our patented Aircore technology, we might just have a solution to give you the invigorating shower you are after....
How is this possible?
It's possible thanks to something called the ‘Venturi effect’. It is named after an Italian physicist by the name of Giovanni Venturi who lived in the 18th century.
What is the Venturi effect?
Essentially, when flowing through a constricted area of a pipe, a fluid’s velocity increases and its static pressure decreases. If you travel by tube or the underground, you might have noticed that in some stations, the wind inside is blowing faster and stronger compared with the wind outside. It's all about squeezing air or fluid through narrow spaces. Therefore in a situation with constant mechanical energy, the velocity of a fluid passing through a constricted area will increase and its static pressure will decrease. If you are interested in reading more about the Venturi effect, please check here.
Why are you experiencing such low pressure in your shower?
The water pressure will depend on a mix of factors. For example; the height of your property can affect your water pressure. Properties on the top of a hill may receive lower pressure than properties which are at the bottom of the hill. Or you may be getting your water from a storage tank where you are relying only gravity to give you your water pressure.
Additionally, when demand for water is high, water pressure can be affected for the rest of the day. Also reduced pressure can be as a result of leaks or blockages in service pipes.
Finally you may be experiencing low pressure due to issues with limescale blocking your shower hose or the faceplate of your shower head.
Are there official standards for water pressure?
Yes there are. Water companies must maintain a minimum bar pressure of water in the communication pipe serving the premises. For more information please visit the following link guaranteed standards scheme
What about electric showers?
Here is how electric showers work; they have an internal heating element. So water can be taken from the cold water supply and heated while we shower. To give you the best idea about how this works, imagine the way the kettle heats water. It's practically the same mechanism.
Most electric showers are designed to work with cold mains systems, with low pressure. At Ecocamel approximately 50% of our enquiries are from customers who use electric showers and are looking for ways to improve the pressure in their shower, to provide them with a better showering experience. They complain about low water flow which causes frustration.
Frustrated? Don’t be, you can do something about it.
One of the recommendations would be to install a shower pump. It’s a relatively easy and effective way to resolve the problem. But it can be costly. And if you live in a rented property, it is probably something you want to avoid. As mentioned above you can try cleaning your shower head and hose to remove limescale blocking the faceplate or your hose. Simply leaving your shower head to soak in white vinegar for an hour can often be enough to dissolve the limescale blocking the nozzles in the shower head’s faceplate.
If you avoid running other water appliances such as washing machines or other taps while showering this might also help increase your water pressure. But if you are looking for a simple, easy to install solution which is also cost effective we recommend that you start by installing one of our Power Boosting shower heads.
How do pressure boosting shower heads work?
Remember the paragraph about the Venturi at the beginning of this blog? At Ecocamel, we identified this technology as something which could be a breakthrough application to use within shower heads. Our Jetstorm was developed in the UK after thousands of hours of testing. It uses a unique and patented multiple Venturi system to make our shower heads function more effectively:
It forces air into the water stream, air enters the handle through small holes and turbulence is created as the air and water mix. The spinning process increases the pressure inside the shower head. As the water is enthused with air this makes it lighter. This has two benefits, it makes the water spray much more powerful while optimising the water being used.
Are there other power boosting shower heads in our range?
Since we introduced the Jetstorm, we worked on exciting additions to our range. The Orbit and the Orbit Soft water versions are becoming favourites with our customers. And if you are interested in the first ever shower head which also massages and exfoliates your skin, check out our Best selling Orb-Spa. To summarise If you are frustrated with your showering experience, we've got you covered. We would like to think our shower heads are best in class when it comes to power as well as water and energy savings. At least this is what our customers are saying. So why not give one of our shower heads a try, it comes with a no risk 60 day better shower guarantee, and we promise you will not be disappointed.
