Kitchen tap selection and water pressure

[simon_g]

Hi - I have two questions, but I have a feeling they may be related:

I am planning on refitting my kitchen. This includes replacing the sink and taps. Many of the taps I have been looking at include a note to say that they are only suitable where water pressure is above a certain level. I have a mains water feed and a gravity fed hot water system with a hot-water tank on the first floor and a cold water storage tank in the loft. The kitchen is on the ground floor.

1 - So first question is: how can I determine what pressure my system runs at and thus what taps I can use?

Secondly, the pressure of the hot water from my existing kitchen taps is poor. However, the sink in my kitchen utility has excellent water pressure on both hot and cold feeds.

2 - Could this be due to the fitting of the 'wrong' sort of taps with respect to the pressure question above and if so, how can I test for this?

Thanks.

 

[Ant]

You can check the flow rate of your water by using a measuring jug and a watch. Time how many litres you are getting per minute as most flow rates are quoted as this as opposed to psi.
I don't really know why taps would have a minimum pressure to work though.
If you have taps on the same floor with different flow rates it could be down to a localised obstruction or perhaps how they are fitted - Is there a double check valve or isolating valve that is not fully open and restricting the flow?