Mystery pipe next to stopcock??

[danb77]

Hi all,

I have a piece of dead-end piping attached on a junction to my mains pipe just before the stop cock. It leaves the main pipe at 90 degrees before bending upwards to the vertical. It has a stop-cock of its own, and turning this appears to do nothing.

It is clearer in the picture below:

Untitled

• danb77
• 1 Jan 2015
• 1

Can anyone identify the purpose of this piping? Is it important? Should it be there? And what is the stopcock for?

I'd be grateful for any tips from the experts on this forum as Googling has produced no suggestions.

Thanks a lot,

Dan

 

[AlanE]

To supply supply to outside tap would be good guess particularly as there appears to be a check valve fitted where this pipe joins main one.

 

[TCCHeating]

It possibly used to feed something that is no longer there. So it has been capped off. It seems it has a check valve fitted so it may have been for an outside tap?? Your guess is as good as mine. I wouldn't let it worry you though!

Edit: seems alan beet me to it great minds think alike

 

[xr4x4]

It's just after the stop cock, so as been said it was a fed to something no longer needed.

 

[Newboy]

Feed for a water softener?

 

[danb77]

Thanks for your help. It is a new build first floor flat so it can't be for an outside pipe. I'm still mystified, but I guess the builders must have used it in the construction.

Do blocked off pipes like this have any tendency to leak?

 

[coopersim]

Temporary supply used during construction?

 

[denso13]

Supply for a shower? It's ok just to leave it as it is but it could be removed easily.

 

[oldbuffer]

If your hot water system is based on a thermal store, it could be for attachment of a hosepipe to replenish the feed and expansion tank.

You'd have to shut off the stop tap, remove the white stop end fitting, attach hose pipe, shove other end of hose pipe into thermal store tank, turn on tap and stop when its reached the right level in the tank. Turn off tap, replace white stop end.

 

[danb77]

If your hot water system is based on a thermal store, it could be for attachment of a hosepipe to replenish the feed and expansion tank.

Bingo! That must indeed be what it is. I wish they'd have told me - I only just refilled by thermal store tank by hand one bottle of water at a time from the kitchen sink....

Thanks very much to you all for your help with this - I think oldbuffer has solved the mystery.