outside toilet pipe leaking

scoobycleaner

:(Hi there,

l was wondering if anyone knows the answer to this question

l have lived in my house for 15 years and when we move in we
had a outside toilet shed ,( no toilet in it )and no pipes showing .BUt in the corner l assumed where the water pipes were their is a mould of cement where the pipes come up from the ground.There is water comming out of a hole in the cement and it has made my flood totally wet,It was fine 5 years ago ,when l filled it up with old bits and bobs and paint tins.

l have not got a stopcock in the shrd has pipes are in the
ground,and when l went outside in back alley to turn the main stopcock off it just shuts water off in main house and not the outside shed has left it for over 6 hours and it was still leaking.

my question is l will have to call the water board out to see if they can find the pipe that cuts the water off,but who will have to pay ,WILL L OR THE WATER BOARD PAY. it is on my property just has it ison the wall of my back wall to the back alley.
thank you:)

Stooby2

If you call the water board you will pay as it's on your property.

Whilst it's unlikely, it could be the old toilet was fed from the cold water tank in your loft. Are you able to turn the outlets off from the tank and see if it stops leaking?

scoobycleaner

l havent got a cold water tank just have a combi boiler.Has anybody know how much it will cost

deanos

The water board wont trace the pipe its a private matter, but they are responsible for stop taps, explain the s/t you found does not shut off the water and they should come and locate it for you (you may get a nice inspector and they might trace for you anyway )

Just thinking aloud are your outbuildings joined with neighbours as it may be supplied from next door

Raksha

I wonder if it's a blockage forcing flushed water up out of an old toilet sewage pipe. It's hard to visualise from the OP's post. OP if you can find the inspection cover and lift it, you will be able to see if it's all clearing properly.

scoobycleaner

next door do not have any outer building,manhole cover lifted and all clean.we use to have a main stoptap in yard but about 12 years ago water board renewed everyones and put them all outside in back alley

budgetdiyer

deanos wrote: »

The water board wont trace the pipe its a private matter, but they are responsible for stop taps, explain the s/t you found does not shut off the water and they should come and locate it for you (you may get a nice inspector and they might trace for you anyway )

Just thinking aloud are your outbuildings joined with neighbours as it may be supplied from next door

I think the water board might be willing to attend and trace it since the leak doesn't appear to be coming from the OP's supply.

Our local water board do and will trace and repair leaks right up to the interior walls of a house. Certainly worth a wall to enquire.

I think i'd be tempted to try and open up the floor in the vicinity of the leak to try and see more of what is going on. For example if you can't see the pipes, how do you know there are even pipes still there? and the leak is not for example a leak in the attached shed next door?

scoobycleaner

maybe l will take a hammer and break cement up to see what is underneath but will do it on monday so if anything goes wrong and water gushes out l can just phone up straight away., without a big bill if l have to pay.

nickcc

There is usually a stop tap somewhere outside your property that isolates your water supply, often set in the footpath under a metal lid. Try turning this off and see if the leak stops, if it either stops or slows down this will indicate that the old outside toilet is fed from your mains cold water supply.
If this is the case you will have to expose the original pipe in the old outside toilet and carry out a repair, if the pipe is very old it may be either lead or steel so I would suggest, if this is the case, a plumber would be your best bet. Be careful how you word your call out for a plumber, if you say it's an emergency you could face expensive call out charges, as its been leaking for some time I wouldn't consider it to be that urgent (unless its pouring out and your on a water meter).

deanos

If it is indeed a separate supply to the outside toilet, you don't want to repair you need to remove the supply as currently its a dead leg and will be full of stagnant water that could potentially get into your drinking supply in the right circumstances eg a burst main, unless you intend to use the supply they you will need to put a stop tap on the end, you can then flush it through if required

scoobycleaner

right l found out some information talking to an elderly women out the back of me who knows what has happened.

a old man lived in the house and it is the water pipes in the corner,what happened is that it came out of the ground about 5 foot and had a stoptap about 2 foot from the top.However the old man connected a hosepipe to the end and was using it for a year or so but the pipe is made of lead and it was bending about 4 feet down the pipe(stoptap 2 foot down bending over 4 foot down). he was watering his plants and it snapped and water was gushing out ,he went to turn the water off by the old main stoptap in the yard. and it did not stop,he call a plumber and was quoted £60 a hour ( time 23.00 hours) which he declined and let it run all night where in the morning somebody a friends grandson cause it was made of lead bashed it and squashed it so no water was comming out.
Then has far has the old lady remembers he just put the cement on the top and everything was fine.. until now.
So now l know what happened, where is the pipe this water is comming from. L tried turning the water off using the new stoptap that the water board put in for the whole street about 3 years after l move in. is it just over time that the force of the water has opened the pipe back up. Dont know what s the best way to go now,totally confused .IT has to be sorted, is the water board the best option to find this mystery ppe