Probably got a leak

danlightbulb said:
Not sure what I want actually, from this. One leak repair in one spot would be easier to fix but if there were multiple pinhole leaks all along it I could probably get the whole supply pipe replaced on the claim, which would be more future proof.
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They may opt to replace it as it looks lead, good practice would be to replace the entire stretch with poly.
 
If they're replacing the pipe, they could always come in somewhere else. But, this might end up being quite an invasive repair.

At my last house, the plumber had to take up floors and go through an internal wall to get the pipe in and through to near where the original stop was. This saved having to dig up the paved driveway.
 
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danlightbulb said:
Not sure what I want actually, from this. One leak repair in one spot would be easier to fix but if there were multiple pinhole leaks all along it I could probably get the whole supply pipe replaced on the claim, which would be more future proof.
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Don't you'll get the hole line replaced on an insurance claim , fixing the leak will be the likely fix
 
danlightbulb said:
Yep doing that right now whilst working from home. Internal stop tap off, taking meter readings every hour.

Its looking like 40 litres an hour, or nearly 1000 litres a day. That's pretty big, surprised I can't see anything externally.

15 minutes till I pop out and take another reading to confirm the flow rate.

Have already contacted Homeserve, they are coming Saturday to investigate and hopefully fix. I guess it depends whether its one leak or many. Older house, whole pipe could be full of holes.

The only other place it could be is where the pipe enters the kitchen under the floor. If its there, its a rip the kitchen out job I expect. But I think at that flow rate we would know if it was sub floor.

Regarding Severn Trent, I have to complete a leak allowance claim form to try and claim back the cost of the lost water, and you're only allowed one of these claims per account apparently. I would expect it to be accepted given Ive helped them out with some leakage finding.
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Yes, that's a lot. 1000 litres a day is 6mm flow from a tap sort of thing. It could well be their installation that's done it, you just have to hope they will refund you. They should...
 
No coverage (also) under household insurance ? - neighbours up the road had a leak of mains which is routed under house ,via living room, and had to move out completely for repairs 10'sK
( Anglian water installed replacement smart meters couple of months ago - so believe I can access real time reading via account - didn't try yet)
 
Bug One said:
Sure he mentioned he's already got HomeServe.
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Yep cost me £6 for the year, special offer when I moved in and set up the water account. Glad I got that now (£30 excess on the claim itself though).

I'll take a look at my home insurance as well though to check what it covers.
 
yes of course - but if it's on your house insurance anyway ? I, too, keep getting publicity from Anglian water on their option
 
There does seem to be some sort of cover included in my buildings insurance for this. I would have to phone them to find out exactly what's covered though, and the excess is larger. Its another option though.
 
worst case if costs were large(like above neighbour who moved out as they dug up living room, friends have adjacent property built at same time and still don't know exact leak reason -
have your neighbours properties any similarities ?),
homeserve may have a cap, so may want to engage building insurance; I don't know what the legal obligation is, if you do have overlap of insurance, for sharing liability.
 
Homeserve came out Saturday.

Wanted to first take the meter out (they should unscrew), so he can inject gas into the pipe to find the leak, but it was in very tight and the pipework was wobbling - he didn't want to break anything. Seems a poor fit by Severn Trent.

Started digging a hole in the front garden where the pipe should run. Dug nearly a metre deep, he couldn't find it.

Started a second hole under the side entry path. Pipe found around 80cm deep. Difficult because of the other services in the space, including a very solid thick pipe/conduit of some sort covered in a black tar like material. Lead pipe is at the bottom of the hole on this pic.

Original-pipe.png


He cut it, gassed the pipe. Got lucky (ish - see later) as he seemed to have landed on the leak. Pipe cut and a new piece inserted.

New-piece.png


We monitored the meter for a while and it seemed to have stopped. He backfilled, re-instated the slabs and went away. All in, 8.30am till 3pm working on it.


Unfortunately Ive taken a reading today, and I think there is still a leak. I suspect his wrangling of the pipe to get the fittings on temporarily closed up the leak, and its reopened again.

Im taking readings now with house supply off, to see what the leak rate is.
 
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Yep, still a leak.

Original leak 34 litres an hour, now its running at 3 litres an hour.

A big improvement but still a cost to me of £80 a year.

Phoned Homeserve back, they are coming next Monday.
 
What a nightmare. Old properties and dodgy pipes.

Had a water meter fitted three months ago thinking it would save a bit. Now I've just discovered I'm using twice what the average should be.

I'll need to look at the meter tomorrow and run some tests, but I've a strong suspicion there's a fault under the garden path, which is probably why I don't need to water the plants in the front garden very much.....

Some useful advice in this thread, thanks.
 
caff said:
What a nightmare. Old properties and dodgy pipes.

Had a water meter fitted three months ago thinking it would save a bit. Now I've just discovered I'm using twice what the average should be.

I'll need to look at the meter tomorrow and run some tests, but I've a strong suspicion there's a fault under the garden path, which is probably why I don't need to water the plants in the front garden very much.....

Some useful advice in this thread, thanks.
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Its ultimately a lack of maintenance. Homeowners should have been replacing these old pipes over time as part of their maintenance responsibilities for the house. People do decoration, repair roofs, get new windows, but don't look at hard things like underground services.

Or alternatively, supply pipes should be adopted by the water sector so that a proper upgrade programme can be implemented, particularly on lead. I think its accepted that potentially a third of all leakage is on customer's supply pipes. When the sector is reducing leakage, it therefore makes sense for the water sector or government to support homeowners in replacing pipes. It is similar in a way to the insulation problem, government setting itself targets for national carbon reduction but not providing any support for people to actually make the expensive upgrades required.

If you don't have it already, the homeserve cover is quite cheap, it cost me only £6 for the year when I signed up as a special offer, and comes with a £30 excess per claim which is less than my buildings cover policy. You just have to wait a month after taking out the policy before you can claim I think.
 
My partner had a water leak go undiscovered for about a year, racked up a £4k bill :rolleyes:

Claimed on the insurance, but still probably cost around a grand in the end. The upshot to that though was, it was such a strong leak it ended up breaking the meter! which then didn't register any more usage for the next year. I then moved in, changed water company before the previous one realised the readings weren't changing (they hadn't in a year) then reported the faulty meter which the new company changed.
 
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