Pipes & Heat in Old Cambridge

A reading site on water and heating in older Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire homes. Not a plumbing or heating firm.

Inside this site

Old pipes · In brief

Low water pressure in an older house

Low water pressure in an old house can start in the street or in your own pipes. The legal minimum is 7 metres, or 0.7 bar, in the communication pipe; the rough check is 4.5 litres in 30 seconds.

Most useful for: Older houses with weak taps or showers, owners and tenants

Compiled from the sources at the end. Updated .

Pair of copper pipes clipped along a wall below a timber ceiling, turning down at a corner.
Copper pipes clipped along a wall and turning down at a corner.

That legal figure stops short of your taps. The legal standard applies in the communication pipe, the water company's length, usually at the outside stop valve or boundary. A company can meet it while a top-floor shower in a tall terrace still runs weakly.

How do you check it?

WaterSafe's rough check uses the first tap on the supply, usually the kitchen cold tap. Put a jug or bucket of known size under it, open the tap fully and time it: 4.5 litres in 30 seconds is the guide. WaterSafe adds that most companies aim for 10 metres, about 1.0 bar, at the end of the communication pipe.

  1. Check that the inside stop tap is fully open. Stop taps and supply pipes shows where responsibility falls.
  2. Note whether all taps are weak or only some. One weak tap suggests something inside the house.
  3. Ask the company on your bill what pressure it records for your street, and tell it what your test showed.

Could the old pipes be to blame?

They can be, although nobody can tell from outside. A narrow bore, or a pipe narrowed by scale, can limit flow, and an old shared run may add to it. Anything past the outside stop valve is the owner's side, so a plumber should look there if the company's reading is fine. Check the material at the same time, since older pipes may be lead.

A pump is not a simple fix. Regulation 5 requires notice and consent for a pump over 12 litres a minute on a supply pipe, so speak to the company before buying one.

What can you claim?

Since 2 July 2025, a £50 payment applies when pressure in the communication pipe falls below the standard for an hour or more, and does so again for an hour or more within 28 days. One short dip does not trigger it, and payments are capped at £250 per financial year. There are exceptions, including necessary works and drought. If the company will not resolve it, CCW can take up the complaint, including problems with these payments.

Sources, read 4 November 2026: The Water Supply and Sewerage Services (Customer Service Standards) (Amendment) Regulations 2017; Customer service standards amendments 2025; WaterSafe: minimum water pressure; Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, regulation 5; CCW: complaints it can help with.