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Water Supply Query
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Hello all,
I live in a mid terrace in St Albans, built sometime in the 1890s.
Last summer we had issues with our water supply, where the pressure was dropping to nothing on some days or a dribble on others. I called Affinity water, who supply the property and they sent out an engineer. After some investigation, the engineer said:
Our supply served at least 3 houses between me and a valve in the street outside my neighbours house.
We had a leak as the meter was increasing with my internal stop !!!!!! switched off.
Between us, we had to pay for the repair and come to some agreement as the responsibility for Affinity ended at the street.
I would have to investigate myself by turning off the supply in the street and asking my neighbours too check their water, thereby working out who was on the supply.
I mentioned to the engineer that I had paid for insurance cover for leaking pipes through Homeserve and he told me that didn't matter as they would only cover my costs and it still wouldn't help if my neighbours either didn't have insurance cover or couldn't agree on payment.
Fair enough to the above points. However, I wasn't convinced and mentioned that if another person in one of the houses had their washing machine on or taking a shower, then this would show the same thing. I must admit I am a bit confused about his comments. Won't the water company have details about who else is on the supply and where it goes to each property? How do you find this out? Would my insurance cover this for me and how does it work when one person has cover and other neighbours either don't or aren't in agreement about how or who should pay?
Anyhow, it turned out not to be a leak, just a plumber my neighbour had employed turning off the supply on some days and then leaving without opening the valve enough.
The inconvenience of the supply going on and off and the confusion around how to get the repair done got me thinking about getting our own supply. I am going to have an extension built, with new kitchen and bathroom and thought it would be a good time to get a new supply at the same time. I have filled out a form on Affinity Water's website and called them a couple of times. They were not that helpful and couldn't explain to me the process and directed me towards the online form. I now have a confusing quote from Affinity Water which is over £5500. It doesn't have a breakdown showing things like if they have to dig up the street, get traffic lights or anything like that. Just a total cost.
Affinity mention 'self lay', which states you can choose an accredited contractor to do the work. How do you choose one and is this worth the effort and are they usually cheaper? I have no idea where the supply of water comes into my property, whether it's at the front or rear and whether or not the supply goes down a passageway underneath the gardens to the rear of the house, (where the extension will be). I presume the new supply will come off the street at the front of the house, meaning my builder will have to connect the water in my new extension by taking up my floor from front to rear. I don't seem to be able to get any information about where the water comes from now or where it will come in, if I go ahead with the new own supply. I'd like more information that Affinity can't or won't provide before I either start the extension work or make a commitment to get a new supply at over £5500. I just don't know if it's worth the hassle.
If the responsibility is all mine to work all this out, then fair enough, I may have to consult a plumber. I just would like more information about where the supply comes from or will go to, so I can make an informed decision before digging up my garden or ripping up flooring in the house. Would Affinity have information about where the supply goes beyond the stop !!!!!! in the street?
Some advice would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I live in a mid terrace in St Albans, built sometime in the 1890s.
Last summer we had issues with our water supply, where the pressure was dropping to nothing on some days or a dribble on others. I called Affinity water, who supply the property and they sent out an engineer. After some investigation, the engineer said:
Our supply served at least 3 houses between me and a valve in the street outside my neighbours house.
We had a leak as the meter was increasing with my internal stop !!!!!! switched off.
Between us, we had to pay for the repair and come to some agreement as the responsibility for Affinity ended at the street.
I would have to investigate myself by turning off the supply in the street and asking my neighbours too check their water, thereby working out who was on the supply.
I mentioned to the engineer that I had paid for insurance cover for leaking pipes through Homeserve and he told me that didn't matter as they would only cover my costs and it still wouldn't help if my neighbours either didn't have insurance cover or couldn't agree on payment.
Fair enough to the above points. However, I wasn't convinced and mentioned that if another person in one of the houses had their washing machine on or taking a shower, then this would show the same thing. I must admit I am a bit confused about his comments. Won't the water company have details about who else is on the supply and where it goes to each property? How do you find this out? Would my insurance cover this for me and how does it work when one person has cover and other neighbours either don't or aren't in agreement about how or who should pay?
Anyhow, it turned out not to be a leak, just a plumber my neighbour had employed turning off the supply on some days and then leaving without opening the valve enough.
The inconvenience of the supply going on and off and the confusion around how to get the repair done got me thinking about getting our own supply. I am going to have an extension built, with new kitchen and bathroom and thought it would be a good time to get a new supply at the same time. I have filled out a form on Affinity Water's website and called them a couple of times. They were not that helpful and couldn't explain to me the process and directed me towards the online form. I now have a confusing quote from Affinity Water which is over £5500. It doesn't have a breakdown showing things like if they have to dig up the street, get traffic lights or anything like that. Just a total cost.
Affinity mention 'self lay', which states you can choose an accredited contractor to do the work. How do you choose one and is this worth the effort and are they usually cheaper? I have no idea where the supply of water comes into my property, whether it's at the front or rear and whether or not the supply goes down a passageway underneath the gardens to the rear of the house, (where the extension will be). I presume the new supply will come off the street at the front of the house, meaning my builder will have to connect the water in my new extension by taking up my floor from front to rear. I don't seem to be able to get any information about where the water comes from now or where it will come in, if I go ahead with the new own supply. I'd like more information that Affinity can't or won't provide before I either start the extension work or make a commitment to get a new supply at over £5500. I just don't know if it's worth the hassle.
If the responsibility is all mine to work all this out, then fair enough, I may have to consult a plumber. I just would like more information about where the supply comes from or will go to, so I can make an informed decision before digging up my garden or ripping up flooring in the house. Would Affinity have information about where the supply goes beyond the stop !!!!!! in the street?
Some advice would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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Comments
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1
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For best results...
- Post in the correct forum - this is Energy.
- Use blank lines between paragraphs; a great wodge of text makes it a bit TL;DR.
- Keep it short, sweet, and to the point. A few bullet points might help to get answers.
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Can't be bothered to read a post that long sorry.
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Our water authority has a list of civil engineers they use. Have you to complete build over forms? If you contact a company they use they may do a site visit to quote for the work so you can find out more.0
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Thanks all for the replies - Point taken about the length of the post. Will trim it down and post in the correct forum.0
This discussion has been closed.
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