Probably got a leak

Freakbro said:
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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How did you change water company, never heard of that...
I thought that geographically they were all hard suppliers for an area and no competition at all.
 
The (initial) section he replaced was a lead pipe then ? was the degradation obvious, to extrapolate that to the likely condition of the rest.
(if it was lead does it really need to be replaced - would a chemical test of water at the house expose it)
 
jpaul said:
The (initial) section he replaced was a lead pipe then ? was the degradation obvious, to extrapolate that to the likely condition of the rest.
(if it was lead does it really need to be replaced - would a chemical test of water at the house expose it)
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Yes the whole pipe is lead. Overall it seemed in good condition externally, the leak was hard to spot even though it was large.

I tried to take a photo but it doesn't work well. On the inside of the pipe is a longitudinal crack, about 2" long, but looking at the outside of the pipe nothing is visible. I guess as lead is quite flexible metal, the crack opens only when under pressure.

Ideally I'd want the whole pipe replaced with modern plastic, that would be the optimum choice for long term. But I can't afford this and no insurance schemes cover it, and no support available from water company to do it.
 
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Some water companies have a lead replacement program where they will contribute towards the cost of replacing lead water mains.
 
Cornubia said:
Some water companies have a lead replacement program where they will contribute towards the cost of replacing lead water mains.
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Yeah it varies across the country unfortunately. Severn Trent's programme only includes 'their' part of the pipe, not the homeowner's part.


Anyway I had Severn Trent out this morning to look at the meter issue - as it couldn't be unscrewed last time for the Homeserve repair team to gas the pipe to help find the leak. They freed up the meter so the homeserve repair team can gas it when they arrive.

Homeserve arrive at lunchtime. I explain history to them, they then gas the main. Leak not detected.

They are saying that the disturbance of depressurising the main, gassing it, and repressurising it, could have resolved it. As the leak appears to have stopped for now, I now have to monitor it some more.

My guess is it will only stop temporarily, but we will see in a few days.

Its more difficult to monitor now, because 3 litres an hour is quite small so difficult to see it on top of normal usage, so I will have to do regular 3-4 hr tests when I know Im not using any water and no one else is home.
 
Guys what would you do/advise here in this situation?

Basically there is still a leak, but its now small. 0.4 litres an hour.

I have had two visits so far.

Visit one found the 34 litres an hour leak and fixed it. 2 hr test before the guy left showed no leak. But over the next few days it was clear it wasn't completely fixed, down to 3 litres an hour.

Visit two, the guy turned off the stop tap and gassed the pipe. No leak. His explanation was the action of removing and reinstating the pressure, and the pressure from the gas, may have resolved it on its own, by seating the repair fitting seal properly into place (he said sometimes they don't seal first time, debris on the seal or whatever).

Visit two appeared to solve it. Short duration testing a few days after indicated no leak.

But I just came back from 3 days camping, and took meter readings before and after. 20 litres has been used, so there is still a small leak.


But 0.4 litres an hour, 9 litres a day, 3 m3 a year, is about £10 worth per annum.


Part of me just thinks leave it, see if it gets worse, make another claim on the policy if it does. Its a tenner a year.

But another part of me is uncomfortable with there being any leak at all and wants it fixed, especially since its probably their job that didn't fix it properly first time around. But it means more inconvenience, more digging up of the side entry again.


What would you do?
 
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Tricky one as you say. I'd probably just keep an eye on it and see if it gets worse. Maybe every fortnight over a night, or if you're away from home take and record readings. You'll at least be able to track whether it gets worse or not.
 
If I was paying for Homeserve I'd expect them to fix it fully under the not insubstantial amount of money you spend with them. If you keep calling them out they'll eventually do it all.
 
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Have you worked around isolating appliances/toilets etc? Do you have an F&E tank in the attic?
 
dLockers said:
Have you worked around isolating appliances/toilets etc? Do you have an F&E tank in the attic?
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Its definitely not internal.

Just checked the meter again after a walk with the dog. Used 1 litre in 1.5 hours, and we could visibly see the dial moving, albeit very slowly.

Probably gets worse at night when the pressure goes up in the mains.

I will call Homeserve again tomorrow I think. Its annoying but it will be constantly something I have to keep an eye on with OTT regularity if I don't get it fixed.
 
danlightbulb said:
But 0.4 litres an hour, 9 litres a day, 3 m3 a year, is about £10 worth per annum.

Part of me just thinks leave it, see if it gets worse, make another claim on the policy if it does. Its a tenner a year.

But another part of me is uncomfortable with there being any leak at all and wants it fixed, especially since its probably their job that didn't fix it properly first time around. But it means more inconvenience, more digging up of the side entry again.

What would you do?
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If it was me I would replace that old lead water supply pipe from the water main on the road through to your house's stopcock with modern plastic pipe. If you have a leaking section of lead pipe near your house then what condition is the rest of the lead pipe going back to the road going to be in? That is likely to have areas that are splitting too. (It was probably installed before 1970 because that's when they moved away from domestic lead water pipes, although installing new ones didn't become illegal until 1989!) Also, having to run your taps in the mornings to get rid of the water that's been sitting in the lead pipes overnight is wasteful and an irritation, but necessary if you have children or pregnant women living there.

Keeping an eye on your water meter all the time in case the leaking pipe suddenly gets worse is also a pain in the bum and something like that will probably burst at the worst possible time for you (like during a family crisis or when you're on holiday).

Finally, there is a low risk of E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Giardia lamblia, Cryptosporidium contamination of your drinking water leading to you/your family developing gastrointestinal illnesses. Leaky pipes can allow contaminants into drinking water. The pressure in mains water pipes usually forces water out through leaks, preventing anything else from getting in. But when there is a significant pressure drop in a damaged section of pipe (at times of high demand or when work is being done on the water main), water surrounding the pipe can be sucked in through the hole. Boiling all water for ingestion would eliminate the problem but that's more faffing around.
 
Maple Leaf said:
If it was me I would replace that old lead water supply pipe from the water main on the road through to your house's stopcock with modern plastic pipe.
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I would love to but the insurance doesn't cover it and Severn Trent don't offer a scheme either, so the cost to me is too prohibitive.
 
Third time lucky? Homeserve out again today trying to resolve this leak. He dug up the previous repair and remade it. Said the fitting wasn't tight enough. Meter has stopped rotating, lets see how long it lasts this time.
 
I had my sewer pipe lined from outside bathoom to M/H by the road - it was expensive- Don't forget what is shown on video is 4" pipe - it will be a bloody hard job lining a lead water pipe.
 
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