Utility Co responsibility

Spivved1987

Our 30s house does not have an indoor stopcock. The only way of cutting off the water is via a stopcock outside the house (and crucially to my question) outside the boundary of my property. The stop !!!!!! is in a grid under the pavement outside my house. Now that stopcock has stopped functioning and won't allow me to turn off the water. We are planning to get a new bathroom fitted soon, and obviously it will be necessary to turn off the water coming into the house for a few hours. Whenever I have had work done on the plumbing it has always been necessary to turn off the water outside, without problems. 

I rang United Utilities to see if they would come out to replace the stopcock. They said no, and would only come out to fix the stopcock if there was an emergency. But the lady on the phone said that I couldn't have a plumber at my own expense replace that stopcock because the ownership of the stopcock was theirs! So I asked if this meant that in an emergency I could get them to come out, but any action to prevent an emergency happening in the first place (by fixing the stopcock) they wouldn't do. She suggested I get a stopcock fitted by a plumber in the pipework which is my responsibilty ie between the existing stopcock and my house. But that would involve digging up the drive which is not something I'm particularly keen on. Where the rising main comes into my house there is only about 1.5" inches of [lead] pipe proud of the solid floor, so it would be difficult to fit a stopcock at that point, and even if I got a plumber out to do that we would still be left with the problem of turning off the water supply while he does it. Catch-22!

I'm scratching my head at what to do, and I also don't understand how the Utility company can wash their hands of the problem unless contacted during an actual emergency when my house is flooding. So much for leakage control.

Can anybdy offer any advice?

 

DE_612183

I'd start a formal complaint procedure with UU and ensure that you get a Complaint Reference. Once that's done, if they still stick to their script, request they provide you with a "Deadlock Letter" which you can they approach the ombudsman.

Section62

Spivved1987 said:

Where the rising main comes into my house there is only about 1.5" inches of [lead] pipe proud of the solid floor, so it would be difficult to fit a stopcock at that point, and even if I got a plumber out to do that we would still be left with the problem of turning off the water supply while he does it. Catch-22!

I'm scratching my head at what to do, and I also don't understand how the Utility company can wash their hands of the problem unless contacted during an actual emergency when my house is flooding. So much for leakage control.

Can anybdy offer any advice?

 

If your supply pipe is lead then I would first of all get that replaced and add a new internal stopvalve.  According to UU's website they will connect your new supply pipe to the mains free of charge, so long as the connection is like-for-like (you'll need to check the details).  And as part of that reconnection I'd be very surprised if they didn't fit a new/replacement street valve (and/or meter).

If your supply pipe was plastic then a plumber would normally be able to temporarily stop the flow by clamping the pipe.  But with lead that's not an option.  Freezing is a possibility, but I'm not sure I'd want to try that on an old lead pipe - otherwise you may have need for that emergency call out.

molerat

What is above the lead pipe ?  Plumbers can often freeze a pipe to do repairs. Should you not be thinking about replacing the lead pipework anyway ?

FreeBear

Anglian Water replaced my stopcock free of charge and without any quibbles a few years back. It was leaking a little, so that might have had some bearing on the matter.

Empty a bucket of (tap) water down the access hatch, and give UU another ring saying you think the stopcock might be leaking...

silvercar

Ask them to fit a meter, they’ll have to turn the water off to do it, so will fix the stopcock at the same time.

Spivved1987

Thanks for all replies. The supply pipe into the house is lead, up until the half inch which actually comes up from the floor. After that it is a crazy maze of copper and plastic with off shoots for the washing machine and dishwasher etc, all very difficult to get at! Since replacing the lead piping coming into the house would involve digging up the drive/garden (and presumably the solid floor in the house)  I'm going to live with lead piping for the twenty meters or whatever of the customer supply branch.

At the moment what I'm considering is getting UU to fit a water meter (currently we are rated). My next door neighbour has one fitted and it is fitted outside his boundary, in roughly the same place place relative to his house as the defective stopcock is to mine. Does anyone with a meter know if the meter can also function as a stopcock?

The problem is convincing 'er indoors that I won't be rationing the amount of time she can use the washing machine/have showers etc. Her fear is the reason we haven't had a meter fitted before, even though the kids have now left home!  She probably has a point in all honesty......

Spivved1987

FreeBear said:

Anglian Water replaced my stopcock free of charge and without any quibbles a few years back. It was leaking a little, so that might have had some bearing on the matter.

Empty a bucket of (tap) water down the access hatch, and give UU another ring saying you think the stopcock might be leaking...

   Crafty!

davemorton

All the water meters I have had have also had a stopcock on them.

FreeBear

Spivved1987 said: Does anyone with a meter know if the meter can also function as a stopcock?

On my water meter, there is a ~12mm square peg sticking up of the meter. AW supply a key to turn the peg if/when the water needs shutting off. Just as well, as I don't have a stopcock inside the house.

Spivved1987

davemorton said:

All the water meters I have had have also had a stopcock on them.

Just out of interest, do Water Utilities work on the 'we [over] estimate your annual usage and divide by 12 for your monthly ddeb' model, or can you have the option of paying on the nail each month according to the actual reading, like I do with my Energy provider? With them I calculate my estimated annual usage and put a 12th of it away each month, so I get the benefit of the months I am using less. Takes discipline though!