Capping a rusty old pipe

[Bodgit]

We have a problem with an old Victorian pipe that's leaking. The pipe comes from a reservoir, runs under our house, and used to feed an old swimming pool which was decommissioned, as far as I know, in the 60s. The reservoir is not on our property, and the site of the old swimming pool is also on someone else's property. The pipe is definitely not used any more, but seems to be full of water and leaking. It's about

1" diameter iron and is very rusty in places. The reservoir is probably 30m higher than our house, so the pressure could be considerable.

I want to cap this pipe upstream of our house where it runs through some woodland, but I'm sure I won't find a standard fitting to do the job, so it needs some improvisation.

I've dug a hole around the pipe and I'm thinking that I could hammer the pipe flat to try to stem the flow, then cut it slightly downstream and try to bung the end with something (cement / silicone sealant / plumbers' putty), but I'm worried that if the flat section of pipe lets water through then there will be a build up of pressure behind the bung which will cause it to fail.

Any suggestions?

[Bodgit]

We have a problem with an old Victorian pipe that's leaking. The pipe comes from a reservoir, runs under our house, and used to feed an old swimming pool which was decommissioned, as far as I know, in the 60s. The reservoir is not on our property, and the site of the old swimming pool is also on someone else's property. The pipe is definitely not used any more, but seems to be full of water and leaking. It's about

1" diameter iron and is very rusty in places. The reservoir is probably 30m higher than our house, so the pressure could be considerable.

I want to cap this pipe upstream of our house where it runs through some woodland, but I'm sure I won't find a standard fitting to do the job, so it needs some improvisation.

I've dug a hole around the pipe and I'm thinking that I could hammer the pipe flat to try to stem the flow, then cut it slightly downstream and try to bung the end with something (cement / silicone sealant / plumbers' putty), but I'm worried that if the flat section of pipe lets water through then there will be a build up of pressure behind the bung which will cause it to fail.

Any suggestions?

[TMC]

Is this in England?

If so I am sure that it would be the responsibility of the owner of the land where the reservoir is to make sure that the water does not escape onto your land or at least be liable for any damage caused

Messing with rusty pipes is a dodgy business as it may fail just above where you have capped it and the failure could be construed as your fault as you messed with it

A post on uk legal may be helpful

Regards

Tony

[Phil L]

My suggestion is to contact the environment agency and let them get to the bottom of it.

The pipe and/or the reservoir must belong to someone, and it is their responsibility, not yours, to prevent flooding of adjacent land/property....this is exactly the type of thing that the EA deal with regularly and what they are best at so I would contact them without delay.

Chopping it off is not an option because the piece you leave in could continue leaking onto someone else's land, the chances are it will have to be removed directly from the reservoir or capped at that point, rather than bodged half way along.

[Tim Lamb]

In message , harry writes

Do they do a waterproof model?

More seriously, if the existing flow is a trickle, perhaps pipe freezing tackle would avoid a soaking.

I'm not sure about relying on the EA. They can move quickly if drinking water supplies are threatened but I don't see who they are going to blame here. Perhaps get it capped off and then tell them?

regards

[Andy Champ]

Victorian iron pipe is likely cast iron, and will shatter rather than hammer flat.

Good luck!

Andy

[Bodgit]

Thanks for all the replies.

Yes, this is in the UK. I reckon the pipe must be malleable iron by the looks of it.

Last summer the owner of the land where the swimming pool was, had a flooded cellar. He called out some "specialists" who were mainly pretty useless but did manage to trace the routes of some of the pipes (to some extent). They were going to cap the pipes in the woods, but they ended up not doing it because the flooding abated when they messed around with some valves on his property.

The dampness on our property has been happening for years - it seems to be getting worse though. It was only when they traced the pipes that it occurred to me that maybe that was the cause of our dampness. The problem is I have no proof, and I quite possibly could be wrong.

As for the reservoir, there are three, on two different peoples' property, and I don't know which one feeds our pipe! I reckon it would be a nightmare, with much buck-passing and expensive surveys to ascertain whose responsibility it is.

I own the piece of woodland where the capping off would be done, and my house is directly downhill of that woodland, so there should be no problems with blame for flooding adjacent land.

The Teekay fittings look good. I can't see a site with any prices though! I guess I'd still have to freeze the pipe or something - it's all starting to look expensive!!

[Tim]

If you get a fitting to cap it you could always blow compressed air down it and look for a bubbling reservoir. ;-)

Tim