Lead water main and other fun items

[andyinscotland]

I have discovered that i have a lead pipe coming from the water main into the house.
it then joins to an old imperial size (a bit bigger than 15mm) copper pipe
then to some cast iron pipes and then to some 15mm copper in some places and to 22mm grey plastic in others.
it also joins to some 28mm copper to feed the combi boiler.

i would like to change this old lead pipe and get rid of the shambles inside with the varying types and sizes of pipes i have.

do you guys have any recomendations for the replacement?

i know the new mains pipe should be a 25mm mdpe pipe, should i go from that to 22mm copper to distribute it round the house ?

also i have found a capped off cast iron pipe coming up in the kitchen, this pipe is making a noise like a tap that is just open, a hissing sort of noise. it is also very cold.
i can only hear it in the middle of the night when the house is quiet.
i think it may be leaking under the house?

i have water coming up in the garden, further down the slope from the house that i think might be comming from this pipe in the kitchen?
or it could be the previous owners idea of some diy irrigation scheme (nothing would surprise me)

So what do you guys think, rip it all out and start again?

in copper of some sort of plastic?

Hide in a corner and say wibble?

 

[ChrisR]

Yup, 25mm mdpe, or fight for 32mm if the pressure's low. The difference in cost is neglilgible for the pipe, and though any taps on it will be more expensive, they're te resistive things. If your pressure's over say 4 bar though, 25mm is fine.
Inside the house, 22mm up to the combi is worthwhile, then from there away to other outlets. That way the other outlets affect the HW flow least.
Get the iron/steel pipe out, with the lead.
Whether you use copper or plastic is up to you. Give us 30 years and we'll tell you whether plastic proved to be OK or not. For my money there are too many failures.

 

[andyinscotland]

Yup, 25mm mdpe, or fight for 32mm if the pressure's low. The difference in cost is neglilgible for the pipe, and though any taps on it will be more expensive, they're te resistive things. If your pressure's over say 4 bar though, 25mm is fine.
Inside the house, 22mm up to the combi is worthwhile, then from there away to other outlets. That way the other outlets affect the HW flow least.
Get the iron/steel pipe out, with the lead.
Whether you use copper or plastic is up to you. Give us 30 years and we'll tell you whether plastic proved to be OK or not. For my money there are too many failures.

Thanks for the reply Chris.
i am inclined towards copper aswell, the central heating is all in a grey plastic pipe that i do not trust that much. (it was already here)
when i changed a radiator i found that a compression fitting had been used without a metal insert in the pipe, the olive had really squezed the pipe down but still was not a tight fit if you know what i mean.
i wonder how many of the others are the same?
(to scared to check)

 

[Cambridge Mum]

Hello, I'm not a plumber, and I am in England, but I'm posting to say that in England, at any rate, if you replace the lead rising main in the house from the outside stopcock, then the water company will replace their side of the lead main without charge. I got a copy of the specification my local water company required before they would do their side of the work and this was useful. They required the new main to be at a certain depth outside and this would have involved breaking through the house foundations. After a discussion with them they agreed that this wasn't necessary so long as the new main was well-insulated. More complicated than I thought it was going to be at the beginning....

 

[andyinscotland]

Thanks Cambridge Mum

They have a similar scheme here too with the same rules and regs ect