Today's job (cowboy strikes again!)

[WHPES]

Customer called me out saying there is no water coming from either the cold tap on the bathroom basin, the cold shower or the cold bath tap.

So I get on site, try and open the taps and just a dribble.

I turn off the mains stopcock and crack openthe joint at the top of the basin cold service valve and water is still dribbling (downstairs sink tap open so no resdual water in cold supply).

I think - can only be coming from a header tank, so go into loft (more of a gap than a loft) and find two small tanks piggy backed together plus a mad arrangement for the F&E tank (will elaborate later). I identified that the basin tap is fed from the cold cistern so assumed that they all were.

Thinking an airlock, I filled the cistern(s) to the brim but still no difference. The customer had a long garden hose so I passed it up through the bathroom window and jubilee clipped it onto the pipe under the tap, thinking to blow the airlock back into the tank. The customer opened the outside tap and.............................. a rotting mouse's head (with ears still attached) was blown out of the feed pipe and into the header tank!! (yuk).

I did the same on the bath tap and a load of rancid skin was blown out. Checking the shower pump strainer, on this was a load of fur and some guts.

I noticed on th side of the basin were water glasses presumably being used until recently. The customer (by now looking queazy) asked if he thought they would be OK having drunk it but I said if you haven't been ill by now you would probably be allright (the taps having being blocked for the best part of a week).

The tanks in the loft had lids but had been squeezed into the small space so tightly that there was no way on earth that the lids would snap round the edges and seal. A stanley knife had been made to cut a corner off to allow the expansion pipe into the tank, leaving a 2" gap between the pipe and the edge of the tank. No sight of any byelaw kit, sealing gromets or breathers anywhere!

I advised the customer that the water in the upstairs basin was defnitely unsuitable for drinking and recommended that the cold tap be connected to the rising main instead.

He said that the installation was done by a certain individual (I am aware of) many years ago, and I find this kind of thing wherever he has been.

 

[GreenArmy]

I once pulled out a dead bird that had got into loft tank and got wedged in the outlet, i nearly threw up.

 

[oldplumber]

went to a local b&b last year for an unrelated repair and had to get into the attic. double storage vessels linked together with cold feed to all bathrooms and mains into tank on same vessel, only a single connection to the 2nd tank so no flow of water across both vessels as per regs. The stagnant tank had some sort of organic growth across the whole surface and was some 3" deep and smelt awful. I felt sorry for any guests as they must have got the s**** from brushing their teeth. Anyhow had to siphon out the lot to prevent blocking up the cold water system and then cleaned and sterilised the lot and finally moved the pipework to meet the regs demands. wasnt a very pleasant days work.

 

[charitynjw]

Glis glis, rodent poison (warfarin?), & an open cw cistern.
A lovely job (Not!!!)
Customer turned green & puked.

 

[kingkenny]

went to do a job in a nightclub in clapham to install 2 undersink heaters,but found water pressure was to low for them to work properly,on investigation of the system all cold water fed from 2 tanks in roof space,full of pigeon droppings and no lids in sight for tanks,then find out that all the post mix were working from said tanks,and not mains,told the owner why he had problems with water supply,he just said leave it as it is,not prepared to leave it there i informed environmental health.

 

[WHPES]

One customer of mine had a rat problem in the loft. He asked me if I could put some poison down but I said not until the joiner makes a better job of covering the header tanks! Sure enough, he put some poison down (after the covers had been improved) and the house stunk for ages! There's dead, dried out rats all over the loft insulation.

not prepared to leave it there i informed environmental health.

If you had knowingly failed to report it and people became ill you could have been held liable.

 

[migoplumber]

l8 states how a cistern should be fitted (and i imagine in other documents) if was not installed to these specs, then reporting him will get him chased and prosecuted. wont happen again.

 

[kirkgas]

WHPES, rather than posting about all the poor work you are doing would it not be better to try harder and leave a better job???????????????

 

[WHPES]

WHPES, rather than posting about all the poor work you are doing would it not be better to try harder and leave a better job???????????????

I can only rectify the installation as far as the customer wishes - I did try and convince the customer to upgrade the system but he didn't want the disruption.

The customer is always "right" whether he is technically right or not! I always put a footnote onto the invoices stating that the system is not up to standard and what work would be required to do so.

 

[kirkgas]

I can only rectify the installation as far as the customer wishes - I did try and convince the customer to upgrade the system but he didn't want the disruption.

The customer is always "right" whether he is technically right or not! I always put a footnote onto the invoices stating that the system is not up to standard and what work would be required to do so.

I jest young man