I enquired of Severn Trent about replacing my lead water mains with
plastic, since building works make this the time to do it. It appears
this aint gonna happen.
There is a shared mains with one stopcock for 4 houses. They will fit
a new connection direct to the mains on the public highway for free
subject to a whole list of conditions, one of which is ensuring no
dead legs are left. Judging from the position of the public stopcock,
the branches to each house will be under the front drives, most of
which are block paved. Since I am on the end of the 4 houses, this
would involve digging up the neighbours garden or block paving to do
this. Something they surely would not agree to. Oh well.
Simon.

On Wed, 01 Aug 2007 08:33:06 -0700, sm_jamieson wrote:

I enquired of Severn Trent about replacing my lead water mains with
plastic, since building works make this the time to do it. It appears
this aint gonna happen.
There is a shared mains with one stopcock for 4 houses. They will fit
a new connection direct to the mains on the public highway for free
subject to a whole list of conditions, one of which is ensuring no
dead legs are left. Judging from the position of the public stopcock,
the branches to each house will be under the front drives, most of
which are block paved. Since I am on the end of the 4 houses, this
would involve digging up the neighbours garden or block paving to do
this. Something they surely would not agree to. Oh well.
Simon.

I thought about it, but my old aunt lived here until she was 80. Now she is
87 and has better memory than me.
I guess the 'gunk' on the inside of the pipe keeps the lead away. The house
is 130 years old.
I do use a jug filter, but that's mainly for the chlorine.

--
Jim S
Tyneside UK
http://www.jimscott.co.uk

On 1 Aug, 16:44, Jim S wrote:
On Wed, 01 Aug 2007 08:33:06 -0700, sm_jamieson wrote:
I enquired of Severn Trent about replacing my lead water mains with
plastic, since building works make this the time to do it. It appears
this aint gonna happen.
There is a shared mains with one stopcock for 4 houses. They will fit
a new connection direct to the mains on the public highway for free
subject to a whole list of conditions, one of which is ensuring no
dead legs are left. Judging from the position of the public stopcock,
the branches to each house will be under the front drives, most of
which are block paved. Since I am on the end of the 4 houses, this
would involve digging up the neighbours garden or block paving to do
this. Something they surely would not agree to. Oh well.
Simon.

I thought about it, but my old aunt lived here until she was 80. Now she is
87 and has better memory than me.
I guess the 'gunk' on the inside of the pipe keeps the lead away. The house
is 130 years old.
I do use a jug filter, but that's mainly for the chlorine.

--
Jim S
Tyneside UKhttp://www.jimscott.co.uk

It was more the concerns about the lead cracking and leaks washing
away foundations etc. Also narrowing of the bore, although water
pressure and supply rate is find. A bloke came and tested water
quality and apparently it was fine.
Cheers,
Simon.

On 1 Aug, 16:55, sm_jamieson wrote:
On 1 Aug, 16:44, Jim S wrote:



On Wed, 01 Aug 2007 08:33:06 -0700, sm_jamieson wrote:
I enquired of Severn Trent about replacing my lead water mains with
plastic, since building works make this the time to do it. It appears
this aint gonna happen.
There is a shared mains with one stopcock for 4 houses. They will fit
a new connection direct to the mains on the public highway for free
subject to a whole list of conditions, one of which is ensuring no
dead legs are left. Judging from the position of the public stopcock,
the branches to each house will be under the front drives, most of
which are block paved. Since I am on the end of the 4 houses, this
would involve digging up the neighbours garden or block paving to do
this. Something they surely would not agree to. Oh well.
Simon.

I thought about it, but my old aunt lived here until she was 80. Now she is
87 and has better memory than me.
I guess the 'gunk' on the inside of the pipe keeps the lead away. The house
is 130 years old.
I do use a jug filter, but that's mainly for the chlorine.

--
Jim S
Tyneside UKhttp://www.jimscott.co.uk

It was more the concerns about the lead cracking and leaks washing
away foundations etc. Also narrowing of the bore, although water
pressure and supply rate is find. A bloke came and tested water
quality and apparently it was fine.
Cheers,
Simon.

Experience says that lead cracking is certainly a concern. It
happened to me both in the house and at the stopcock (toby in
Scotland!) at different times and fortunately I was in the position
that I could replace it all. I then had to help a friend who had the
similar fate.

Rob

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
sm_jamieson wrote:

I enquired of Severn Trent about replacing my lead water mains with
plastic, since building works make this the time to do it. It appears
this aint gonna happen.
There is a shared mains with one stopcock for 4 houses. They will fit
a new connection direct to the mains on the public highway for free
subject to a whole list of conditions, one of which is ensuring no
dead legs are left. Judging from the position of the public stopcock,
the branches to each house will be under the front drives, most of
which are block paved. Since I am on the end of the 4 houses, this
would involve digging up the neighbours garden or block paving to do
this. Something they surely would not agree to. Oh well.
Simon.

Is it possible to do it with some sort of 'mole' machine without having to
dig it up?
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

Roger Mills wrote:

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
sm_jamieson wrote:

I enquired of Severn Trent about replacing my lead water mains with
plastic, since building works make this the time to do it. It appears
this aint gonna happen.
There is a shared mains with one stopcock for 4 houses. They will fit
a new connection direct to the mains on the public highway for free
subject to a whole list of conditions, one of which is ensuring no
dead legs are left. Judging from the position of the public stopcock,
the branches to each house will be under the front drives, most of
which are block paved. Since I am on the end of the 4 houses, this
would involve digging up the neighbours garden or block paving to do
this. Something they surely would not agree to. Oh well.
Simon.

Is it possible to do it with some sort of 'mole' machine without having to
dig it up?

Yes it is. My father's replacement main (water or gas, I can't remember) was
laid like this. They still need to dig holes (typically one at each end,
and extra ones at any points where the pipe will change direction), but
it's less bad than an entire trench, and if you're lucky, one of the holes
will be in the public pavement.

HTH

Tim

On 2 Aug, 12:15, "Roger Mills" wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,

sm_jamieson wrote:
I enquired of Severn Trent about replacing my lead water mains with
plastic, since building works make this the time to do it. It appears
this aint gonna happen.
There is a shared mains with one stopcock for 4 houses. They will fit
a new connection direct to the mains on the public highway for free
subject to a whole list of conditions, one of which is ensuring no
dead legs are left. Judging from the position of the public stopcock,
the branches to each house will be under the front drives, most of
which are block paved. Since I am on the end of the 4 houses, this
would involve digging up the neighbours garden or block paving to do
this. Something they surely would not agree to. Oh well.
Simon.

Is it possible to do it with some sort of 'mole' machine without having to
dig it up?
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!

The problem is removing the dead leg (supply shared with 4 other
houses after stopcock) that would be left from my neighbours house to
mine. There will be a branch under her paved front garden one way to
here house, t'other way to mine. I would have to remove this dead leg.
This would involved digging up her garden.
Simon.

Tim Southerwood wrote:

Is it possible to do it with some sort of 'mole' machine without having
to dig it up?

Yes it is. My father's replacement main (water or gas, I can't remember)
was laid like this. They still need to dig holes (typically one at each
end, and extra ones at any points where the pipe will change direction),
but it's less bad than an entire trench, and if you're lucky, one of the
holes will be in the public pavement.

Ignore that - I'm tired and I lost the thread a bit.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
sm_jamieson wrote:

On 2 Aug, 12:15, "Roger Mills" wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,

sm_jamieson wrote:
I enquired of Severn Trent about replacing my lead water mains with
plastic, since building works make this the time to do it. It
appears this aint gonna happen.
There is a shared mains with one stopcock for 4 houses. They will
fit a new connection direct to the mains on the public highway for
free subject to a whole list of conditions, one of which is
ensuring no dead legs are left. Judging from the position of the
public stopcock, the branches to each house will be under the front
drives, most of which are block paved. Since I am on the end of the
4 houses, this would involve digging up the neighbours garden or
block paving to do this. Something they surely would not agree to.
Oh well.
Simon.

Is it possible to do it with some sort of 'mole' machine without
having to dig it up?

The problem is removing the dead leg (supply shared with 4 other
houses after stopcock) that would be left from my neighbours house to
mine. There will be a branch under her paved front garden one way to
here house, t'other way to mine. I would have to remove this dead leg.
This would involved digging up her garden.
Simon.

You wouldn't have to actually remove the pipe - but simply cap off your
branch at your neighbour's end. If even that is unacceptable, how about
leaving the branch in situ, feeding (say) just an outside tap for your
property - and run a new plastic pipe for the 'proper' supply?

Alternatively, why not persuade *all* the affected neighbours that they
ought to get rid of their lead pipes and install new plastic ones instead?
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored.. Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks.
PLEASE REPLY TO NEWSGROUP!