Hi, my house is a brick semi, around 105-115 yrs old, in south Manchester, so likely to have had a lead supply pipe originally. However there's no lead pipe visible inside the house, or any 'blue plastic' replacement pipe - the supply just emerges into the house as copper pipe (15mm or half inch) from a brick bulkhead in the cellar. There's a stopcock in the pavement too, which suggests that the probably-lead original supply may have been replaced at some point (most houses on the street don't have a pavement stopcock, and several still have a shared supply).
I contacted United Utilities, who say they have no records relating to the property one way or another. I dug a hole outside and found the pipe; it's still copper for at least 500mm or so (ie the width of the hole) before it enters the house.
I had a look inside the pavement stopcock (photos attached), but I can't see the actual connection to verify if the pipe is still copper at the connection end. There's an exposed plastic nut at the base which seems to be securing a cover plate of some kind. So my question is, is there anything I can (legally) do at the stopcock to verify what type of pipework I have connecting to it? eg, undo the plastic nut and see if I can remove the cover plate?
Thanks for any tips
I contacted United Utilities, who say they have no records relating to the property one way or another. I dug a hole outside and found the pipe; it's still copper for at least 500mm or so (ie the width of the hole) before it enters the house.
I had a look inside the pavement stopcock (photos attached), but I can't see the actual connection to verify if the pipe is still copper at the connection end. There's an exposed plastic nut at the base which seems to be securing a cover plate of some kind. So my question is, is there anything I can (legally) do at the stopcock to verify what type of pipework I have connecting to it? eg, undo the plastic nut and see if I can remove the cover plate?
Thanks for any tips
