Outside toilet has a stop tap with a water meter above and is turned off

meter body is cracked due I think to frost damage

toilet was disconnected when meter was installed

There is a faint sound of running water in the room louder when ear to the
meter

The leak may have been present for years

The pipe below the stop tap is copper

the floor is concrete

the house is ex council and probably 1930's


Question

How far down is the copper likely to go and what will it be connected to?

I suspect lead

I am hoping for a copper to lead compression fitting not far down and the
leak there

do I feel lucky

nope

On Oct 13, 11:34*pm, "TMC" wrote:
Outside toilet has a stop tap with a water meter above and is turned off

meter body is cracked due I think to frost damage

toilet was disconnected when meter was installed

There is a faint sound of running water in the room louder when ear to the
meter

The leak may have been present for years

The pipe below the stop tap is copper

the floor is concrete

the house is ex council and probably 1930's

Question

How far down is the copper likely to go and what will it be connected to?

I suspect lead

I am hoping for a copper to lead compression fitting not far down and the
leak there

do I feel lucky

nope

Lead was used from Victorian times to just preWW2. Copper was used
from around 1920 to 1960s. Then various forms of plastic.
The only reason it would change copper/lead midway would be if a
repair had been carried out. The water main is probably cast/
malleable iron.

Well here build 1939 its lead into the house and thenhalf way up a cupboard
on the way to the first floor its copper where it is branched to the
various bits of the house. All the houses are the same.
Brian

--
Brian Gaff -
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"harry" wrote in message
...
On Oct 13, 11:34 pm, "TMC" wrote:
Outside toilet has a stop tap with a water meter above and is turned off

meter body is cracked due I think to frost damage

toilet was disconnected when meter was installed

There is a faint sound of running water in the room louder when ear to the
meter

The leak may have been present for years

The pipe below the stop tap is copper

the floor is concrete

the house is ex council and probably 1930's

Question

How far down is the copper likely to go and what will it be connected to?

I suspect lead

I am hoping for a copper to lead compression fitting not far down and the
leak there

do I feel lucky

nope

Lead was used from Victorian times to just preWW2. Copper was used
from around 1920 to 1960s. Then various forms of plastic.
The only reason it would change copper/lead midway would be if a
repair had been carried out. The water main is probably cast/
malleable iron.

"harry" wrote in message
...
On Oct 13, 11:34 pm, "TMC" wrote:
Outside toilet has a stop tap with a water meter above and is turned off

meter body is cracked due I think to frost damage

toilet was disconnected when meter was installed

There is a faint sound of running water in the room louder when ear to the
meter

The leak may have been present for years

The pipe below the stop tap is copper

the floor is concrete

the house is ex council and probably 1930's

Question

How far down is the copper likely to go and what will it be connected to?

I suspect lead

I am hoping for a copper to lead compression fitting not far down and the
leak there

do I feel lucky

nope

Lead was used from Victorian times to just preWW2. Copper was used
from around 1920 to 1960s. Then various forms of plastic.
The only reason it would change copper/lead midway would be if a
repair had been carried out. The water main is probably cast/
malleable iron.

so it would be copper from the outside stopcock to the inside one

would this be in any sort of duct or just 15mm cooper buried in the ground?

Regards

Tony

On Oct 14, 8:56*am, "TMC" wrote:
"harry" wrote in message

...
On Oct 13, 11:34 pm, "TMC" wrote:





Outside toilet has a stop tap with a water meter above and is turned off

meter body is cracked due I think to frost damage

toilet was disconnected when meter was installed

There is a faint sound of running water in the room louder when ear to the
meter

The leak may have been present for years

The pipe below the stop tap is copper

the floor is concrete

the house is ex council and probably 1930's

Question

How far down is the copper likely to go and what will it be connected to?

I suspect lead

I am hoping for a copper to lead compression fitting not far down and the
leak there

do I feel lucky

nope

Lead was used from Victorian times to just preWW2. *Copper was used
from around 1920 to 1960s. Then various forms of plastic.
The only reason it would change copper/lead midway would be if a
repair had been carried out. *The water main is probably cast/
malleable iron.

so it would be copper from the outside stopcock to the inside one

would this be in any sort of duct or just 15mm cooper buried in the ground?

Regards

Tony- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

No, just buried is normal. If you live in a non-hard water area and
your drinking water comes through lead pipe best to get rid of it.
Or at least run the tap for a minute before you draw drinking water in
the morning. (Gets rid of lead that has dissolved out of the pipe
overnight.)
There are special mechanical joints for lead pipe connections if you
don't feel up to wiping a joint.

There are three thicknesses of lead pipe for various pressures.The
pipe was described as being "X pounds"( weight per foot). I can't
recall the detail now.
You will need to determine the outside diameter to get the fitting.
Compression fittings for copper pipe can be made to fit by shaving the
lead pipe down to size with a shave hook sometimes.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000LFVEG...N=B000LF VEGS

This BTW is the original purpose of a shave hook though now they are
used for stripping paint.

TMC wrote:
Outside toilet has a stop tap with a water meter above and is turned
off
meter body is cracked due I think to frost damage

toilet was disconnected when meter was installed

There is a faint sound of running water in the room louder when ear
to the meter

The leak may have been present for years

The pipe below the stop tap is copper

the floor is concrete

the house is ex council and probably 1930's


Question

How far down is the copper likely to go and what will it be connected
to?
I suspect lead

I am hoping for a copper to lead compression fitting not far down and
the leak there

do I feel lucky

nope

TMC wrote:
Outside toilet has a stop tap with a water meter above and is turned
off
meter body is cracked due I think to frost damage

toilet was disconnected when meter was installed

There is a faint sound of running water in the room louder when ear
to the meter

The leak may have been present for years

The pipe below the stop tap is copper

the floor is concrete

the house is ex council and probably 1930's


Question

How far down is the copper likely to go and what will it be connected
to?
I suspect lead

I am hoping for a copper to lead compression fitting not far down and
the leak there

do I feel lucky


It will probably just be copper to lead, but soldered, not compression.
The leak may just be below the surface of the concrete, it's my guess that
the cement has attacked the copper - it's unlikely to be on the lead.

You'd probably be wise to wrap the new piece of copper in a few thicknesses
of duck tape or similar before re-concreting, also, some lagging above
ground might be an idea if the outhouse is subject to extreme temperatures.