Taps and pressure advice please!

[RigidRaider]

I need to buy all the taps and valves for our bathroom project. I can get a huge discount on Sagittarius www.sagittariustaps.co.uk but most of their taps require at least 0.5 bar or 5 metres of head. We have only 1.75m to the shower head and 3.0m to the taps.

Why do so many modern taps need such high pressures? Is it because they have a special valve arrangement designed for high pressures or something to do with flow capacities? I know that many modern taps have those tiny tails and I guess these are not suitable for low pressure application.

Can anybody recommed a good range of taps & valves, suitable for our house, of good quality (Crosswater for example) but reasonable price?

(Mind you I have had problems with rust spots on a Crosswater tap, which they had to replace for me)

Thanks!

 

[Agile]

Most of the world uses mains pressure directly at both taps.

In the UK we have a tradition of stored water in loft cisterns.

Most taps therefore are made for world markets and have narrow waterways as thats all that is normally needed.

You can get over the problem either by using one of the few taps made for LP use in the UK or by using a shower pump.

Your shower head is not going to get much flow with only a 1.75m head!

Tony

 

[RigidRaider]

Thanks! Can you settle an argument then?

We have 3m from the bottom of the tank to the taps. My wife (an experienced diver) says this means we have 0.6 bar of pressure, which is enough according to the Sagittarius brochure.

But:

The Sagittarius brochure states: A bar is the vertical distance measured from the base of the water tank to the tap. 5 metres = 0.5 bar.

We know their definition of a bar is wrong but whose calculation is correct?

 

[TicklyT]

Sticking to round numbers, 1 Bar is about 1 atmosphere of pressure, which is about 10 Metres of water, or 32 Feet of water, or about 14.5 pounds per square inch.

So 3 Metres = 0.3 Bar, as suggested by Saggitarius.
Or 10 feet = about 4.3 PSI in old money.

 

[RigidRaider]

Thanks! Back to the drawing board then.

 

[Agile]

Your wife needs to go back to the diving school before she gets the bends or something!

Tony