Burst pipe/meter?

sancho

I have an outside toilet sort of attached to the house which I put a washing machine in when I moved in last year, It has been playing up the last couple of days so decided to pull it out earlier and have a look. The water pipes were frozen, as was the waste (u-bend frozen solid) and the cold feed into the machine. I also noticed that I had neglected to lag the pipes last year I then found the lagging I purchased a year ago and did it.....

I defrosted everything and managed to get the washing machine working properly, but have just been in there and there was a small pool of water, pulled it all out again and there's a small leak.

The water pipe comes up through the ground, then into something (which I presume is the meter and there is a cable going from it to a digital display on the outside which can be read) then out of the other side eventually to a tap, I put a tap on for the washing machine. The water appears to be coming from the bottom of the meter(?) but I realise it could be from somewhere else and dripping down.

I can't really get to it without pulling the washing machine fully out of the 'room' - which I plan on doing tomorrow. What should I do about it though, will it be obvious where the leak is when I can get to it properly?

If the meter is broken is it something I can replace? If it is a pipe or a connector is it something I can replace myself?

Obviously I have turned the stopcock off

Great thanks for anyone who can assist me

sancho

I found a picture from before I did anything to the room, but it will give more of an idea of what I mean

ormus

if the meter has frozen up inside it may have done some damage. if your lucky itll just be the joints.
not much you can do until the weather improves.

sancho

Thanks

Bit of a pain as there's nowhere else I can put the washing machine. If it's a small drip would I be ok to turn the water on (with a bowl/cloth underneath the drip)and run the washing machine, then turn the water off again? Bit of a hassle but less so than taking our washing elsewhere

ormus

i cant see any problem with that.

27col

Insulating the pipe will not stop it from freezing if the temperature is low enough for long enough, but it will make it less likely. If there is no heat in the area the temperature of the water will eventually fall to freezing, with or without insulation.

sancho

Thanks, worth doing though?

Never had any trouble last year, but It's been -8 for a week or so here

ormus

as been said before. weve had 20 yrs of mild winters.
this year is very exceptional. very very cold. temps are the lowest for about 100 years!
hence so many problems.

sancho

After having a good look, it is the meter that is leaking (on the viewing glass) - Have rang the water company and they have assigned a job number, although somewhere near the bottom I suppose. I forgot to ask them - was on hold for 20 mins - will it cost me money for them to change the meter? I presume they own it?

I did think about just taking it out and running a piece of pipe across, but that's a bit naughty

ormus

you could do that in an "emergency" situation.;)

sancho

They said ordinarily it would be today they came but there's loads of people without water (much more serious than ours) the lady said he would probably put a pipe in its place then it could be up to 35 working days to replace the meter. Will be doing a lot of washing during that time, no meter!