In message , mich
writes
I think , I do not know , its just a think , that I may have a leak in my
mains coming into my house. This think is based on a number of issues with a
dripping tap in the kitchen CW ( refitting washers and still taps drip a
couple of days later) and the fact that when I flushed the tap pipe I have
got gravel out on two occasions now, despite cleaning the tap system.

Just a thought, if the hole in the pipe was big enough to let gravel in
then it would be letting an awful lot of water out. You would probably
have spotted it by now. More likely a repair was done sometime in the
past and the gravel entered the system then.
--
Bill