How To Repair Hole In Lead Pipe

I take (after much looking) discovered where a h2o leak is in my firm. Downstairs consists of a living room at the front of the house, and a kitchen and a small hallway that leads to a downstairs toilet at the back of the business firm. Having removed some skirting board in the kitchen I take establish a leak that comes from the base of the downstairs toilet wall and into the kitchen. The leak is most at floor level and so was difficult to find, the water then leaks under the plastic clammy proof membrane. I have drained the toilet cistern and the leak still continued. I have switched the stop erect off at the front end of the house and still it leaks. The water pressure on the boiler is fine, and there is no water damage to any ceilings, and all copper pipes I have inspected from under floorboards upstairs are non leaking.
Having spoke to a neighbor she says that our houses were originally fed with h2o from the dorsum of the houses with sometime lead piping, just many years ago the houses then became serviced with water from the front of the house and that water is stopped via the end tap in the pavement. It seems that the one-time supply at the back was never switched off as some people used it (and still do) for outside toilets and hose pipes. My neighbour who has lived their for over forty years believes that my leak will exist from those old pipes - but at that place is no stop tap anywhere in my chiliad for the erstwhile pipes.

Assuming my leak is from the old water supply, how would I get about stopping the leak without digging up the concrete floor of the downstairs toilet. I am unsure of where I stand with the local water authority as my house is now serviced with water from copper pipes from the front at present, so who is responsible for the quondam pipes that I believe take no stop taps at the back of the house. I can simply assume the old supply was once capped, simply something has happened to it and now it is leaking - I would think (at a guess) about ii litres a day are pouring under the clammy proof membrane (although it's less now I am using towels etc)

There are at the back of the houses some old water hose pipage points outside two of the nine back yards, and a few people still take outdoor toilets, and taps in potting sheds, that are all serviced from the old supply. If I contact the local water say-so to ask them near my leak and the old h2o supply, are they likely to just plough off the entire h2o supply for all the houses at the dorsum as it is an un-metered supply that any of united states of america can utilise for hose pipes etc, or are they likely to be able to help me locate the pipe that feeds into my yard and under my downstairs toilet and into the kitchen.

Thank yous for whatsoever advice you tin requite.
The business firm I live in at present had the same problem. In my instance the water feed ran from the front of the house to the dorsum g through a physical floor, then feed the other four houses. When the pipe bankrupt inside the floor they had to run along the outside of the terrace in to the back yard and reconnect.
The problem you have is it is a shared supply so that yous can't alter the supply if it affects the other property.

The water board won't have any plans for the area and won't disconnect the supply from your neighbours. The only real pick is to try and piece of work out where the erstwhile pipe are coming into the house and outset digging and exploration trench to detect the pipe.

Once you take establish information technology then it is a matter of getting it capped before it enters the house.

There are differing opinions on whom owns the supply; one railroad train of thought is that because it is on your property it is your problem the other school of idea is that considering information technology is a common supply then it belongs to the h2o board. It is the same with drains the main line that serves the back of the house is mutual merely the individual feeds are the householders.

There used to exist an obligation on water boards to supplant all underground lead pipes I am not sure if that is still applicable but it may be worth contacting them to meet what they say.

here is Thames Waters arroyo http://www.thameswater.co.u.k./help-and-advice/5886.htm
Could rent a Cat (Cablevision Avoidance Tool) & Genny & locate the pipage yourself if the no luck with waterboard.
S2000, you have a meter on your 'front' supply?
In which example I'd personally be looking at that 'rear' supply as a bonus... Suddenly, watering the garden and washing the auto get more attractive options...

Although WBs accept been replacing lead pipes for some fourth dimension at present, I don't recollect their responsibility includes the piping on owner's property. What they will do is replace the atomic number 82 from their chief pipe to your street stopcock/meter if the dwelling house owner as well replaces their lead piping from that stopcock to the house. At to the lowest degree that'south how information technology was with me around 10 years ago.

If you lot approach the WB near this, I fear they will go for the easiest solution for them - cap off the lead pipage where is supplies you and your neighbours. If some of these houses besides have meters fitted, they will surely want to remove whatever source of 'gratuitous' water...

I'one thousand with Sos on this ane - try and locate (there must be equipment that'll do this?) where the pipe is in your back garden, expose it and get ready to cut and fit a stopcock on it. Use freezing equipment if necessary.

Bring the pipe upwards to the surface using plastic with insulation, and enjoy your free water...
There is this,Cat (Cable Avoidance Tool) & Genny was effectually £40 a day to rent, cheaper than being charged by waterboard.
I was going to suggest a Cat tool, but the problem will be it has to be in an R/F mode to pick up a metal water pipe and in a bars space (back yard) he volition probably be picking upwardly a lot of false signals the metal near past and old debris nether the surface.
The yard tin't be that big and I assume the pipes won't exist that deep as they come into the house so information technology shouldn't take too long.
Shouldn't be a problem, as the genny is generating a tone for the cat to selection upwardly.
Ooh - I'grand interested, explicate delight .
Hopefully the route taken by the pipe should be fairly obvious besides? Certainly, if the OP knows where it exits his house, he can hopefully choice up the signal in that location and trace it backwards to the point he wants to position his gratuitous water feature...
Makes finding pipes so easy, most work down to nigh 3 metres.
They work really well in open up areas. Had lots of problems in airtight areas of older houses - just then downwards here we tend to accept lots of "old" metal in the ground from previous householders and the habit of using one-time **** from the metal industry doesn't help. The number of items been earthworks down only to find a large lump of ore or ****.
Latest versions CAT4 accept improved on the previous Cat 3 tool with simultaneous dual-frequency locate signal output. Alongside the usual 33kHz there is additional higher frequency used now.
Some of the latest have GPS, so you can map utilties now.
Seen one of these in use the other day, darn impressive.

http://www.cabledetection.co.uk/ezicat-i750xf
Nifty slice of kit. It is one of those things that when yous demand it is absolutely vital the majority of the fourth dimension information technology is sat in that location idle
That True cat I linked to, the LOGiCAT Software works with Google mapping,& at that place Android app, pretty impressive software.
It's cheaper to hire when you need ane.
Y'all shouldn't take pay to repair an underground outburst that is supplying h2o to a neighbour. It is a very complex situation and the all-time style to sort this out is to pay that insurance that the water board offering you so let them sort out the mess.
The trouble is that it is a redundant spur that is inside the house. The feed outside is atomic number 82 which should exist replaced by the Water board. In my surface area they will peculiarly if it feeds several houses. This looks like it is simply supplying non drinking water to toilets, sheds and exterior pipes which puts in a bad-mannered position
And I've known people in same state of affairs & call in waterboard & recieved bill for fixing leak.
When your new service on the front was installed information technology would exist the task of the h2o authorities inspector to ensure that the old service pipe at the back of your property was removed at the tee or as close to it as possible thus ending your responsibility for the old service. It contravenes the WA bylaws to leave an old spur even so live within a property. It sounds similar this volition take some sorting out!
I don't think the OP's neighbs would exist happy if the WB sorted it out...
Thanks so much for all that information - and yes I am slightly reluctant to telephone call the water lath every bit they might switch the entire un-metered water supply off to the back of the houses. Finding the water supply I thought was going to be problematic but my neighbour has just this forenoon told me where the un-metered supply pipage runs along and it is just outside the rear yard wall and is under a grass verge right beside my yard wall - I should take known equally the taps we all use for hose pipes are on the outside of two of our yard walls. Then at least I now know where the supply piping runs and can dig up (was told information technology runs about 12-18inch down) with a spade and observe the spur that feeds my business firm. As some of you have pointed out an un-metered water supply in this twenty-four hours and age of water meters is very handy so what I may practice is find where it drops into my chiliad, and so dig upwards a little of the yard and cap the pipage leading into my house and peradventure give myself a water tap in the one thousand.
Thank you very much for anybody'south aid on this, I think I will just deal with this myself past contacting the plumber I usually apply and leave the water lath out. Cheers all once again.
And the old lead supply is simply supplying peoples taps in their yards and a few exterior toilets that some people accept kept in because they are always gardening so have outside toilets and a sink in a small outhouse so the supply does non feed whatsoever internal water supply as anybody's is now fed from the front of the houses via copper.
Isn't it great how a little chat with a neighbour (especially one who has lived their for decades) tin provide so much data. Makes you wonder how many faults could be diagnosed faster by a couple of knocks on neighbouring doors.