no water in the house

[ijc_plumbers]

Hi guys, i was contacted by a customer today who has been without water since tuesday!
House is standard 1930 semi type. Incomming mains is in lead, local undertaker checked main stopcock and said it was fine.
On arrival i uncovered the boxed in lead pipe and stripped doun the internal stopcock..the pipework is completly dry!
I suspect there is a burst under ground, so i was wondering if any more expierienced plumbers on here had any ideas/tips on tracing the leak?
The customer has a solid concrete froor to the side of the property and block paving to the front.
There is a "condensation" type build up on one part of the drive and wondered if this was a good indicator or not!
To be honest im more than a little bemused.
Cheers,
Ian

 

[justlead1]

Hi. To confirm water is moving/leaking from communication pipe, get a bit of stick say 1m long place one end on company stopcock at boundry of property and the other end to your ear. You will here the flow if it a burst and nothing if still frozen. If a leak is likley it is often better to ignor and rerun a new pipe from company stop valve.(mdpe) using a grundamat mole (you will find local contractors)

 

[ijc_plumbers]

Hi Justlead1,
I tried to listen using a length of copper pipe, the only thing i had to hand! But i couldn't clearly accertain any sound, i also repeated this on the lead pipe prior to te stopcock in the house, and even with the stopcock dismantled and an open pipe i couldn't hear anything.
Do you think its probable that the pipe is still frozen, given that the last few days have been mild here in birmingham?
The customer is a single parent on her own, and to say she is at her wits end is an understatement!
Cheers,
Ian

 

[WHPES]

Got a similar problem with a customer. There is a leak somewhere. The trouble is the water board stopcock turns off 4 houses. It is a terrace and the pipe runs under the floor of the kitchen to feed the other 3, one after the other. We found this out as we turned it off and re-ran a length of pipe to the customer, and the 3 neighbours then came round and complained they had no water. The water board say they are only responsible for the pipe up to the stopcock in the pavement so it looks like my customer is responsible for the suppy to the other 3 properties as well as their own.

 

[dontknowitall]

I bet the water authority sends out 4 bills!!

 

[justlead1]

If it unlike whpes situation and a single supply? why not try turning off company valve and pressure testing from cleint stopcock back to company valve. Although not exactly kosher i have in the past, run a temporary supply partly over ground to relieve the client of the stress associated with the problem. But this depends on the topography of the situation.

 

[ijc_plumbers]

Hi, yes just to confirm it is a single supply just to te customers house.
I will retry the listening method tomorrow, but i think a pressure test back to mains might be the only way to confirm the situation before i break out my shovel and start digging!!
Cheers,
Ian

 

[ecowarm]

Got a similar problem with a customer. There is a leak somewhere. The trouble is the water board stopcock turns off 4 houses. It is a terrace and the pipe runs under the floor of the kitchen to feed the other 3, one after the other. We found this out as we turned it off and re-ran a length of pipe to the customer, and the 3 neighbours then came round and complained they had no water. The water board say they are only responsible for the pipe up to the stopcock in the pavement so it looks like my customer is responsible for the suppy to the other 3 properties as well as their own.

The 4 houses a equally responsible for the shared water supply, the water company can confirm this

 

[ijc_plumbers]

Hi guys,
Just a post to conclude, went back today and did pressure test back to mains, took a suspiciously short time to pressure, and held steady!
So careful positioning of an halgen heater, and 2 hours later, water flow has resumed, i suspect the ice plug was relativly close to the pipe exit through the floor.
Thanks for the replys!
Cheers,
Ian.