Power Flushing in Borstal

How a Power Flush Clears Your System

A power flush sends high-velocity cleaning chemicals through your entire central heating circuit using a specialist pump. The flow rate is significantly higher than your boiler's own pump can produce, which means it reaches debris in areas that normal circulation cannot shift — corners of radiators, low points in pipework, and deposits clinging to the inside of the heat exchanger.

Each radiator in your home is flushed individually. Our engineers isolate one radiator at a time, reverse the flow direction to dislodge sludge trapped behind baffles and at the base of the panel, and continue until the water runs clear. The contaminated water is drained safely, and the system is refilled with clean water treated with a corrosion inhibitor.

For properties in Borstal, where Kent's hard water supply is a constant factor, we always recommend the addition of a magnetic filter after the flush. This device sits on the return pipe to your boiler and catches metallic particles before they can circulate through the system, keeping it cleaner for longer between professional flushes.

Signs Your Borstal Home Needs a Power Flush

• Cold patches at the bottom of radiators
• One or more radiators failing to heat up
• Banging, kettling, or rumbling sounds from the boiler
• Heating system takes much longer to warm the house
• Black or brown water when radiators are bled
• Boiler cutting out or showing error codes

Borstal Properties and Heating System Challenges

Borstal's position between Rochester's historic centre and the rural areas toward Wouldham gives it a distinctive character. The older properties along Borstal Road and Borstal Street were built during the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, and like much of this-era housing, their central heating systems were added later. These retrofitted systems often follow complex routes through the building, with pipework running through wall cavities, under floorboards, and sometimes through unheated spaces. These runs create dead spots where sludge settles and is difficult to shift without the high-velocity flow of a power flush.

The inter-war and post-war housing in Borstal features more conventional heating layouts, but after 40 to 60 years of operation, the radiators in these properties have generated substantial quantities of magnetite. A single steel radiator that has never been properly flushed can harbour several kilograms of sludge in its lower channels.

The smaller properties and cottages in the area may have compact heating systems with fewer radiators, but they are not immune to sludge problems. In fact, smaller systems can be more affected because the reduced water volume concentrates the contamination more quickly.