Mains Supply Advice

[Franknewton]

Morning all

My first post is a bit of an arduous one, but hopefully someone can offer me a little advice!

We moved into our house about 4 months ago and the water flow was really low. Three separate plumbers all suggested that Thames Water should replace our external stopcock. An inspector came around and observed the pressure at 4 bar and the flow at 8 litres per minute and Thames Water have finally changed the external stopcock.

Unfortunately it made no difference - if anything it made it worse. Thames water came back and checked. They couldn't detect a leak in our supply pipe and told us that our internal stopcock was defective. One of our plumbers came round today and disagreed. He said our mains pipe has a leak and our stopcock is fine (although it dribbles/leaks a bit after being turned). Apparently replacing a mains pipe costs thousands and it goes under the house....

When I turn on the kitchen tap or outside tap - if no other water's been used for a minute or so - there's a burst of water (which fills up roughly a pint) then it reduces to a very weak flow (around 26 seconds for a litre)

Unfortunately we don't have a water meter to check for leaks

Any advice would be gratefully received

Thanks in advance

Frank

 

[ALEC1]

Gosh where do you find your plumbers?

The issue is undoubtedly the lead mains from the street to your house and possibly there after.

Yes it does cost money to change a mains... but thats what you need! It needs to be changed from the street main to the entry into the house, not from the meter to your house as a bit of lead will still be in the road!

4 bar is good pressure but 8 l/m is low for modern appliances...so with a new pipe you can expect 20 l/m

 

[Franknewton]

Thanks for your quick response Alec. It looks like Thames Water might (surprisingly generously!) help us.

http://www.thameswater.co.uk/help-and-advice/9752.htm

However, given that Thames Water have told us that our internal stopcock needs replacing I worry that they might not do this work until that has been done.

 

[adlplumbing]

you may have a pressure reducing valve fitted near your stop tap, or faulty one way valve
what boiler do you have
as one wb boiler has to have one fitted to stop it leaking

 

[Nige F]

Gosh where do you find your plumbers?

The issue is undoubtedly the lead mains from the street to your house and possibly there after.

m

Maybe it`s an iron pipe - more likely to corrode and block - one for debate But if you post a pic. of the stopcock and nearby pipework in your house we`ll be able to tell from that

 

[Franknewton]

Just to update this. The internal stopcock under the sink has been replaced with no effect. The new plumber believes the pipes leading into the property have corroded and are restricting the flow. Unfortunately this isn't something Thames Water fix!

However, Thames Water have been back around and have pointed me in the direction of another stopcock before the rising main pipe which is hidden behind our kitchen cabinets. I've peeked at it with a torch and a mirror and it looks old and manky! Guess I'll be ripping the kitchen out next, to get to it!


Cheers

 

[Agile]

Like Alec I also wonder about your plumbers!

How much did you pay each of your first three plumbers?

Tony

 

[Franknewton]

First one was free - friend of a friend having a poke around trying to identify problems just after we moved in.

Second one was replacing some ball valves and had a poke around at my request so paid £75 for the job he was doing. Hasn't charged for subsequent visits (getting air put of Central heating and advising on this problem)

Third one was shower technician from Mira who charged £75 for his call out but couldn't fix the shower cos flow was too low

Final one charged £50 to replace internal stopcock!

 

[Agile]

Well, apart from the first, all of them should have been able to give better advice in my opinion.

Whichever one suggested a leak seems the worst nupty. it has to be a VERY serious leak to affect the flow rate. If there had been a leak the TW people would have told you. They are found by listening to the outside shut off valve.

BUT, in most of these cases that advice is to replace the supply pipe from your boundary to the house. The cost of this is usually about £700- £2400 all depending on what is involved. You have not given any details of this.

Removing all the lead pipework indoors is always a good idea and should be done when any major work like new bathrooms and kitchens is being carried out. But you would be surprised how many don't bother.

Tony

 

[Franknewton]

Hi all,

A hole was cut in the kitchen cupboard, the ancient stopcock was located and removed. It has been replaced with a new pipe to the new undersink stopcock and we now have more flow than we know what to do with and have saved a small fortune! We still have a bit of 100 yr old lead pipe which is likely to pinhole at some point, but that's for another day.


Thanks so much for all of your help!

Frank