Having replaced own water main...

[tonyjeffs]

This is just out of interest...

Some 15 years ago, I replaced my own water main; dug a trench to the boundary of our property and laid a blue pipe, etc. The water company called pretty promptly and connected it up.

Today and all week, the water company are renewing all main water pipes in our street. There's a trench in our street. I was very surprised to see the end of my plastic pipe, .......connected to their lead pipe!!!!!

What d'you make of that!

If the trench remains when they've gone, I'll take a photo.

Tony

[TMC]

Do you mean that the work has been done and that they are keeping the lead pipe? If so what have they renewed?

If not why are you surprised that the original mains pipe was lead? weren't they all?

Tony

[Aidan]

They connected your new plastic pipe to their existing service pipe, which was lead. They were then under no obligation to replace their bit of lead pipe.

Things have changed. I think that nowadays they're obliged to remove their bit of lead service pipe if you ask them AND if you've replaced all the lead service pipe on your property. Ask them while the trench is open. They'll probably ignore you, then come back 6 months hence, when the instruction has found it's way through their system and dig your street up again.

[tonyjeffs]

Maybe that's it - they couldn't replace the last bit of lead service pipe until the main pipe was modernised, but I think they should've told me at the time, maybe in the paperwork. I was just surprised, having lived the last 10 years under the impression that our water supply system was lead free - I thought that was the whole point. Y' think you're protecting your kids by getting rid of ALL the lead. I bet most people would be surprised at that. .... They filled the hole in pretty quick. I didn't see them replace the last bit of lead, so I'll jus' presume they did to keep myself happy.

Cheers Tony

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It's an interesting point. If you are in a hard water area the inside of lead quickly gets coated and nil lead appears in the water.

In a soft water area this doesn't happen. In theory you can get the lead replaced for free, but first you have to pay for a water test to show the presence of lead above a certain value. And a friend living in the NE of Scotland where it's all granite and therefore as soft a water as you'll find - ok for use direct in car batteries - did this test and it was

*well* below the level.

So I dunno if there's some intermediate type of water that really does dissolve the lead in significant quantities, but I doubt it.

[Mary Fisher]

I'm not. The rising main to our house is lead. We replaced internal lead plumbing (tautologous, I know) only because it was old and perfoated. The mains pipe is far thicker.

It's coated internally with insoluble salts, it represents no harm to anyone.

Mary

[marvelous]

But if you replaced it with copper plumbing isn't that an oxymoron?

[Chris Bacon]

Perhaps you're right, I bet it did, yes.

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