Water Supply Pipe?

[sturharv]

Could anyone offer some advice, I am working on a new build house being built on a farm (the owner of the farm is building a large house). The farm is set back a few hundred metres from the main road. A 2 inch asbestos cement pipe tees of United Utilities MDPE pipe at the main road before running up the fields 200-300m to the farm.

The water meter and stopcock is just off the main road too. Therefore from that point the pipe is 'privately owned'.

What I am eventually getting around to asking is: can the contractor connect a new 32mm. MDPE pipe to the new house into the asbestos cement pipe on the farm, or do you think UU would have to come out and do it? It is 'privately owned' after the stopcock and water meter. The new house is replacing an existing house which is being demolished, we could use the existing water pipe, but it is a lead pipe and also we would like to increase the dia. as the new house has a large demand.

Thanks

 

[BoxBasher]

You will probably find that the flow off the AC pipe will be pretty crap anyway, they aren't the most hydraulically effective pipes in the world. The increased flow may also lead to scouring of the pipe which will discolour the water (and no amount of flushing will stop this, it just worsens).

Is the house part of the farm, and all owned by the same person? Or has the house been sold off and is now nothing to do with the farm?

The pipe now belongs solely to whoever is drawing water off it (assume it to be the farm) and you would need their permission to connect into it. Would then require a sub-meter to deduct the consumption of new house from existing metered supply.

May be easier all round to lay a new 32mm supply out to the UU main and apply for a connection. You may be able to wangle it as a lead replacement type connection, which should be much cheaper than a new build one (may even be free).

 

[sturharv]

You will probably find that the flow off the AC pipe will be pretty rubbish anyway, they aren't the most hydraulically effective pipes in the world. The increased flow may also lead to scouring of the pipe which will discolour the water (and no amount of flushing will stop this, it just worsens).

Is the house part of the farm, and all owned by the same person? Or has the house been sold off and is now nothing to do with the farm?

The pipe now belongs solely to whoever is drawing water off it (assume it to be the farm) and you would need their permission to connect into it. Would then require a sub-meter to deduct the consumption of new house from existing metered supply.

May be easier all round to lay a new 32mm supply out to the UU main and apply for a connection. You may be able to wangle it as a lead replacement type connection, which should be much cheaper than a new build one (may even be free).

The house is part of the farm, the ownere of the farm will live in the new house (the existing house is being knocked down).
Tried to get UU to offer a free connection to the AC pipe but they said as it was a new build it would come under the scheme... typical!
I don't understand why there would be scouring and discolouration if we were to connect a new 32mm. supply to the AC? It would certainly be easier to do this than run a 32mm. pipe 200-300m down to the road for a new connection.

I suppose another option is to lay a new large pipe from the road to feed the whole farm and tap off that, although this may be expensive?

 

[BoxBasher]

Not really, you can probably get 50mm PE pipe moled, or maybe even plough in a 63mm pipe to supply the farm and tee off this.

I was only thinking about the increased flow from a point of view that the new build will have much higher demands (and capability) than the old farmhouse with a lead supply pipe.

AC will scour if subjected to higher flows than it is used to. How much demand is there at the farm? Is it Dairy (used to high flows for washing milking parlours etc) or solely stock (in which case it is used to relatively low flows filling troughs etc).

 

[sturharv]

Yes you are certainly correct in the extra demand, the house has a number of showers and baths.

I think the farm has washing and milking parlours and is quite used to needing higher flow rates, the client did say the performance dropped in the summer months.

I do remember him saying the water is metered and he spent about £8'000 last year! So it may be used to the high flow rates?

 

[Balenza]

sturharv wrote

and he spent about £8'000 last year!

He should look into a bore well system. About 5k installs one.
I don't know a dairy farmer who doesn't have such a system.
He should also be looking at rain water harvesting for washing down his parlour.

 

[sturharv]

I have tried to persuad him to get into rainwatering systems but he is reluctant.