Turning back on Water Co's tap (legitamely)

[naffer]

My daughter had a cold tap fail that wouldn't turn off.

(Her husband away on business & I live locally but I was away on this day, (sexist I know but a real situation!)).

A genuinely helpful neighbour tried to turn off the mains entry stop tap inside the house. He couldn't turn off the water (washer was shot) so he went to the Water Co's thingy (where the meter was) outside where he turned off the water on the Water Co's side using a socket set.

In slower time I fixed the stop-tap and fitted a simple 90 degree valve and demonstrated where it was, so that if she has a problem in the future, stopping the flow is a 90 degree turn. (Previous owners of house had removed the bib from main stop tap so it's not her fault that she couldn't she where to turn off the main supply even if it would have worked!)

BUT: We couldn't turn the Water Co's plastic valve back on again. It appears that the bit you turn has a rachet-like device that makes turning it back on very difficult.

I gave up, not wanting to damage the valve/meter fitting and called our water supplier. Within an hour or so, a good man turned the water back on cheerfully waited while I checked that my work wasn't leaking. And No Charge!!

While I'm v pleased our supplier (Bristol Water) and the prompt cheery response to our problem, I would like some input into how these valves work.

It appears that the bit you turn has a rachet, albeit in plastic, that allows ease of "turning-off" and difficulty of " turning-on".

When the good bloke from B Water came, it only took him a few seconds to switch supply back on.

SO: Where can I get the tool to turn on/off the plastic valve on our stop taps; mine and my extended family that I do stuff for?

AND: Can anyone point me at a site that shows how these valves work and what tools are need to use them?

Thanks in anticipation,

N

[Tim Lamb]

In message , naffer writes

Umm.. I doubt the ratchet bit. My only experience of plastic meter/shut off assemblies are those used by Three Valleys Water Co. in Hertfordshire. These have a removable T shaped plastic operator which fits into a square socket on the valve.

The torque required to open and close the valve is significant. For security reasons, I removed one from a field supply and subsequently lost it! A replacement was supplied by the meter reader.

regards

[Andrew Gabriel]

Yes, I found it rather alarming that the plastic shaft wound up about half a turn before the valve turned at the bottom. I thought it was going to snap off, and wasn't sure I was doing the right thing at all initially.

[Adrian]

Tim Lamb ( [e-mail]) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I'm also in Three Valleys, and had a new main stopcock about seven or eight years ago - the previous one was seized solid...

There's a simple plastic lever to turn it on or off, and it requires very little torque indeed.

There's no meter on my place, but there is a connector for one - If we were to move to a meter, I gather they just fit a meter head to the existing stopcock.

[naffer]

Thanks for the answers. But I'm none the wiser.

Could it be that each Water Co. does it differently?

I am sure that ours has a device that latches when turning off and slips when turning back on.

I had a v good look at it having un-screwed the head.

I found that the head which you turn has an underside with lugs that are a bit like those metal screws that you can't unscrew for good reason.

Wedge shaped lugs engage the lower part of the tap,

90 degs one way (off) and a long slope the other that unscrews what looks like a wood-screw holding the head down so that it won't engage and open the valve.

So, any more ideas?

N

[dom]

You always turn it clockwise - off->on->off->on ?