Lower the head height on a small village church.

[Robert Bell]

I’ve had a local church ask me to lower the cistern as it has no cold feed and no water on site to get it there. The boiler is a Powrmatic Sime and the old church warden is having to climb a 3m ladder with a watering can once a month. I went round and worked back from the tallest rad with a laser level and it’s around 2m above the boiler and the head tank is about 4m above the boiler. Just checked online and the manual says a 2m head is required so was wondering if you guys had any input to whether I can lower it to around 500 above rad height which would still give enough height from the boiler which sits below ground level.

 

[oz-plumber]

Lowering the header is not going to resolve the issue that it needs refilling.

Are you asking to lower the header tank for ease of refilling?

 

[Roy_66]

If moving the tank is a worry could you arrange a lower cistern and a hand pump (or some kind of safe electric pump) Use the overflow to detect it's full?

Cheers,

Roy (amateur)

 

[Robert Bell]

If moving the tank is a worry could you arrange a lower cistern and a hand pump (or some kind of safe electric pump) Use the overflow to detect it's full?

Cheers,

Roy (amateur)

That’s not a bad idea. The warden is well into his 70s so it’s a real safety issue for him.

 

[SJB060685]

If the warden has kept on eye on how much he is filling it with then a pump as mentioned before is an easy option. You could lower the height of the tank but you still need to make sure there is enough head and that the pump suction pressure is not so low you might encounter cavitation.
The thing is though if he’s having to fill every three months that suggests a leak somewhere. I assume all pipe work is below ground?

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Might be easier to supply a hand pump and hose pipe

Or saniflo

 

[Robert Bell]

Lowering the header is not going to resolve the issue that it needs refilling.

Are you asking to lower the header tank for ease of refilling?

Yes that was the idea though I don’t think it’s possible as the boiler manufacturers instructions say minimum 2 metres.

 

[Robert Bell]

If the warden has kept on eye on how much he is filling it with then a pump as mentioned before is an easy option. You could lower the height of the tank but you still need to make sure there is enough head and that the pump suction pressure is not so low you might encounter cavitation.
The thing is though if he’s having to fill every three months that suggests a leak somewhere. I assume all pipe work is below ground?

Yeah all buried so not an easy leak fix.