Main Water Supply / Meter

Apologies for posting again on this subject but there seemed to be some confusion in the last thread I started (probably due to me) and it was suggested that I start afresh.

The layout

I live in a terraced house with a water meter situated in the pavement outside my house under a cover. This water meter is the one that is for / supplies / feeds my house ie if I use water in my house the dials on that water meter turn. Adjacent to my water meter (on the right) there is also a stopcock (hexagonal nut). I have attached a photo below.

If the neighbours turn on their water supply my water meter does not register any consumption ie dials do not turn.

Furthermore, my household's water consumption appears to be normal 475-500ltrs / day, family of four.

My terraced house is about 20 years old and the next door property with which I am having difficulties with is Victorian.

I hope that I have been clear so far.

The problem

I am having a problem with the next door terrace. Whenever they need to stop the water supply in their house (recently to replace their boiler), they turn off the stopcock (hexagonal nut) located in the pavement under the cover (to the right of my water meter). Unfortunately, when they do so the water supply to my house is also turned off.

I have now learned that my own water meter has a valve in the meter chamber in order to independently shut off my water supply. I do not know whether turning off the valve in my water meter will also turn off the neighbour’s water but I strongly believe this is not the case.

I understand that my neighbours should have an internal stopcock usually situated under the kitchen sink but they cannot locate it.

My neighbours will be completely refurbishing their house (to include bathrooms and moving their kitchen) in the next few months and I am sure that the builders will be regularly turning off the water supply.

What are my options

My objective is simply that I wanted my neighbours to be able to stop their main water without also shutting off my water. By that I mean for their to be a separate stopcock (situated close /adjacent to my water meter but) which when closed would only stop the neighbour’s water supply ie that they do not close the hexagonal nut which also stops the water supply to my house.

Would the easiest / simplest and cheapest solution be for the water utility to install a water meter to supply my neighbour’s terrace which would contain it’s own independent shut off valve, ie to solely turn off their water supply and not mine also.

Presumably if the utility did install such a meter for my neighbour’s terrace it would be situated outside in the pavement outside of their house.

Many thanks for any info provided

Cheers View media item 35754

It sounds like when your newish house was built, the developer has picked up the old cold water supply to your neighbours house and installed a water meter for your place.

The developer has probably done it on purpose to save money, or the water board did it to save money, either way you have been left with an unsatisfactory arrangement.

It could be that the main water pipe is a long way away, opposite side of your road in the pavement. This would have meant digging up the road at worst case scenario.

Whatever the reasons, it is not your fault. The work should have been supervised by the water board, after all, they are charging you both for water. Neighbour un metered and you metered.

Call the water board out and get them to sort it out free of charge. I'm sure they would. The neighbours original supply pipe must have a T off junction (serving your meter) after this hex nut which is his responsibility.

You need this T off junction before this hex nut.. .......

This could probably be done if the neighbour requests a water meter, at the same time, as they are normally installed free of charge (Southern Water does) That way the water company can kill two birds with one stone!

Many thanks for your reply tryitandsee.

tryitandsee said:
It could be that the main water pipe is a long way away, opposite side of your road in the pavement. This would have meant digging up the road at worst case scenario.[

Click to expand...

I called my water co (Thames) to ask whether I could have an independent connection to the main water supply pipe. They informed me that the main water pipe is situated on the other side of the road. Cost for this option would likely be prohibitive.

tryitandsee said:
The neighbours original supply pipe must have a T off junction (serving your meter) after this hex nut which is his responsibility.

Click to expand...

Not sure what the T off junction is but perhaps it is not necessary for me to understand.

tryitandsee said:
This could probably be done if the neighbour requests a water meter, at the same time, as they are normally installed free of charge (Southern Water does) That way the water company can kill two birds with one stone!

Click to expand...

During my conversation with Thames, I also asked about my neighbour requesting that a water meter for their property be fitted adjacent to mine on the pavement. Apparently, they could install this free of charge.

However, the chap I was talking to at Thames said that there could well be complications with the layout of the pipes in the area of my water meter and said that there existed the possibility that a meter to service my neighbour's property could not be installed in the pavement ie depending on what they uncover.

He did suggest getting an 'inspection' visit organised but when I asked whether this 'inspection' would entail digging down and getting an idea of what the layout of the pipes where underneath, he said that he did not know.

Cheers

Keep persisting to get them out. The fact that someone has saved money by not going under the road is not your concern. I suspect a casual conversation took place between developer and water board when they made your connection, and it probably went like this;

' to connect up to the main across the road will cost you thousands mate, bung me £300 notes and I whip one in on the neighbours existing supply, but being thick, I will put the connection (T junction) after the hex nut

Get them round and make them do it right.

If thats the way it happened then the bribe might have been to connect the supply of someone elses meter!

your only solution is to kick up a fuss and dont give up!

when your neighbour turns off their water it deprives you of water and this is an infringement of your HUMAN RIGHTS!

also anything outside the boundry of your property is the responsibility of the local water authority. They wont want to come and do it for free but basically they have to. Every property must have a means of isolating the water supply without interference with other supplies. For example should the house next door get repossessed they will turn off the water supply and leave you with none either.

this connection was probably done by the builder and done this way because it was easier. The whole road does not need to be dug up only past your neighbours stoptap and then the pipework tee'd in before the stoptap.

water companies dont like to spend money like anyone so it wont be easy but you will get there in the end. they should offer a free site survey take this to get the ball rolling and like i said dont give up.

when you speak to them mention things like your rights to water and the requirement of individually isolating properties and that the water company (even though it was 20 years ago) accepted this installation and they were wrong to do so.

good luck

God knows what I'm doing with drawing on paint book but hopefully this will show what I mean.

No that can't be seen! Not sure how to do it!

Can the moderators help me !!!!!!!

tryitandsee said:

Click to expand...

this is my understanding of it aswell simply the pipe to your house has been connected in the wrong place and should be rectified by the local water authority IMO free of charge

Many thanks guys/gals for your valued comments. In the first instance, I am drafting a lengthy letter and wanted to sent it to the CEO of Thames Water and cc the Head of CS, if I can manage to track down their names. Would anyone know where I can look to find these?

I wanted to sent the correspondence via recorded delivery so that there will be a clear written record.

gassservice85, thank you for your many useful comments an ideas.

tryitandsee, your diagram of the 'existing' situation would appear to be correct as far as I understand it.

The 'should be' I would say, why not just put an additional 'hex' on the neighbour's branch for reason that if my water meter needed changing, then my water could be shut off before my water meter via the existing hex. Is that not good?

BTW, when I spoke to Thames Water earlier on, the nice chap I spoke to said at one stage, why not just get your plumber to come around and dig it all up and place a hex/stopcock on the neighbour's branch.

Any info much appreciated

Cheers

Putting in another hex would only be useful to the water board, if they needed to do anything to your water meter, but a complete waste of time and effort.
The main water main in the road opposite you will have independent stop cocks that will shut down a section that supplies your shared supply service pipe.


Excuse me for saying, but you do seem to be worrying far too much into the future, to what may or may not happen. Yes you can try and prevent problems by foreseeing things that might happen, but that particular future event would be a problem for the water board.

Just reading your post again.


You have a habit of confusing everyone

You mean, put a hex on the existing drawing.
Yes a hex or a water meter.

I do apologise tryitandsee.

My neighbours will be having substantial refurbishment to their property. That is 99.9% certain.

They will be moving out of their property for about 6-8 months and if this issue is not attended to prior to them moving out, I will be left at the mercy of the contractors and probably the water co.

So I was hoping to resolve it in good time since I can clearly see that a problem exists now.

Thanks to your advice and the advice of others on this forum, I have a reasonable idea of what needs doing. In the first instance, I will fire off letters to Thames Water and see how they respond.

Many thanks for your kind help.

Cheers