Lead tap not closing ... and stop tap ineffective - help!

[srdegnan]

I have an ancient lead tap external to my property. I'm looking to replace this. The stop tap in the house doesn't isolate this as it's on a different feed.

I had the water supplier (Yorkshire) come out a couple of weeks ago to locate the stop tap for this ... which is around 200 metres away on the main road and feeds 6 properties. Looks like when this tap was put in, it was just taken straight from the mains. However, this stop tap needs repaired as it's not working and around 50+ years old.

Anyway - my lead tap is now leaking quite a bit as it looks like the washer inside has gone)

. Is there anything a plumber would be able to do to stop the leak /replace it (freezing?) before the two week wait for the stop tap to be fixed?

 

[MANDATE]

If the inside washer has gone, you may not be able to close it and it will allow water to pass. But it won't cause a leak!
If it's leaking, Is it not coming from the valve spindle.
If it is then, then you could try tightening the gland nut a little.
Or undo the gland nut and wrap some ptfe tape under the nut and retighten.
I think it wise to wait the two weeks and have more time to do a better job.

Tip You might like to consider using a rubber disc and two pence piece and a clamp to seal the valve up while you carry out repairs, so you only have water off for a few minutes.

 

[srdegnan]

Ah cheers. I probably should have been a little more specific. I've tried closing the tap and the leak is coming from the end of the tap - not around the valve spindle.

In the meantime I'm hassling yorkshire water as it's probably dumping around 10 litres of water an hour .... (now hooked to a hose pointing at a drain!)

If the inside washer has gone, you may not be able to close it and it will allow water to pass. But it won't cause a leak!
If it's leaking, Is it not coming from the valve spindle.
If it is then, then you could try tightening the gland nut a little.
Or undo the gland nut and wrap some ptfe tape under the nut and retighten.
I think it wise to wait the two weeks and have more time to do a better job.

Tip You might like to consider using a rubber disc and two pence piece and a clamp to seal the valve up while you carry out repairs, so you only have water off for a few minutes.

 

[HERTS P&D]

What I would do is hit the lead pipe with a large hammer and squash the lead pipe. Doing this before the stopcock. Once the lead is squashed and not flowing, I would Freeze the pipe work and fit a new stopcock.

Phone around and a get a plumber who has a freeze machine.

(You could also have a new mains put in.)

Andy