Unusual water noise outside house

[jcm@gwr]

The real problem is that homeowners never try the tap until it's needed so it gets caked in scale (internally) when they really need to turn it off they then need lots more force.

 

I check both mine every couple of months and can turn them with 2 fingers.

 

Not everyone is that organised!

 

I recommend to my customers, that when you turn the stop-cock

on, you open it fully, then back it off about 1/2 a turn.

This makes little or no difference to the flow, but does mean if it

seizes again, you stand a chance of freeing it off by 'working' it

both ways until it frees (difficult if it's jammed fully open) 

[Enterprisingwestern]

Not everyone is that organised!

 

I recommend to my customers, that when you turn the stop-cock

on, you open it fully, then back it off about 1/2 a turn.

This makes little or no difference to the flow, but does mean if it

seizes again, you stand a chance of freeing it off by 'working' it

both ways until it frees (difficult if it's jammed fully open) 

 

How many times do you get the call from a customer about a stiff kitchen/bathroom/stop tap, followed by the dreaded words "I've sprayed it with WD40"?!!!

 

Mike.

[Captain Kernow]

I can see that I'm going to have to keep the WD40 strictly for medicinal use in future!

[polybear]

I close & open the valves in the loft every 3 months (I have a reminder set on the laptop) and also the two isolation valves either side of the central heating pump.  Until fairly recently I used WD40 (seemingly without harm) but have since swapped to aerosol 3 in 1 oil.

 

I also just did the isolation valve (buried in the flower bed!) after several years and fortunately the trap was both clear of crap and the tap ok to turn - now a lot easier after the 3 in 1 treatment.  I've also set a marker tab so I can find it quick again without digging up half the flowers.....

[devondynosoar118]

Any mineral based lube will perish the rubber in a the tap washer. Use a silicone based rubber safe spray, 3 in 1 do a silicone spray.

Captain- glad to hear Kernow Towers won’t be getting an unplanned moat!

Edited May 21, 2018 by devondynosoar118

[kevinlms]

I close & open the valves in the loft every 3 months (I have a reminder set on the laptop) and also the two isolation valves either side of the central heating pump.  Until fairly recently I used WD40 (seemingly without harm) but have since swapped to aerosol 3 in 1 oil.

 

I also just did the isolation valve (buried in the flower bed!) after several years and fortunately the trap was both clear of crap and the tap ok to turn - now a lot easier after the 3 in 1 treatment.  I've also set a marker tab so I can find it quick again without digging up half the flowers.....

Aren't WD40 & 3 in 1, basically the same product by different makers?

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

...The good news is that the fault is apparently not on our property, but they will have to dig the road up outside our house and including the end of our drive, where the outside stop cock is. Hopefully they won't disturb a newly-installed gravel border and the lawn, but they probably will anyway.

Preamble. For reasons relating to the original construction and a rather significant error in setting out, my water supply stopcock is within the curtilage of the property (as it is for many of our neighbours) but everything up to the stopcock is the water company's responsibility even though it is on my land. This suddenly all became very relevant when the mains and house supply pipes had to be renewed, mucho digging and all that stuff: but surprisingly instead of placing the new stopcock in the road or on the nearest adjacent footpath, it was specified to go right where the old one had been. This meant lifting a fair area of my (superbly laid) paving because there was the added complication that the old stopcock hole was both deep and at a significantly off vertical angle, and some other complications relating to the adjacent road construction.

 

The point. Having seriously wrecked my paving putting in the new stopcock, after several rounds of serve and volley tennis with me waving pictures of the condition to which it should be restored, they abruptly caved and brought in a contractor who did the work to my satisfaction. A neighbour did likewise over damage to his recently turfed lawn in the same refit process, and obtained satisfaction by being stubborn. So, pictures, and patient insistence...

[devondynosoar118]

I discovered that my neighbour was linked to my supply when the pipe in my house leaked(buried under concrete floor, no sleeving) and I cut them off.

Next door’s landlord went nuts when water board tried to charge him £1500 to reconnect it with a separate supply from the road. I told him it was not his liability and father looked up the relevant water regulation which required the company to provide each dwelling with a separate supply that could be individually isolated.

Confronted with their own rules the company swiftly relented and it cost him not a penny.

Ironically my current property has two stopcocks outside, one of which turns off the second one! Next door runs off my supply again! Thankfully I don’t have a meter.

Edited May 21, 2018 by devondynosoar118

[Mark Saunders]

Aren't WD40 & 3 in 1, basically the same product by different makers?

 

I was listening or watching something and they appear to be different as WD in this context is Water Displacement and 40 is the 40th version of the formula and was developed for the US military to use on Atlas missiles, plus it contains baby oil!

 

Mark Saunders

[The Stationmaster]

I was listening or watching something and they appear to be different as WD in this context is Water Displacement and 40 is the 40th version of the formula and was developed for the US military to use on Atlas missiles, plus it contains baby oil!

 

Mark Saunders

 

I've heard the same - WD40 was the 40th attempt to develop an effective water dispersant for use on various equipment.  3 in 1, unless it has changed considerably since I last bought some, is a mineral oil based lubricant.

[jcm@gwr]

I was listening or watching something and they appear to be different as WD in this context is Water Displacement and 40 is the 40th version of the formula and was developed for the US military to use on Atlas missiles, plus it contains baby oil!

 

Mark Saunders

 

 

I've heard the same - WD40 was the 40th attempt to develop an effective water dispersant for use on various equipment.  3 in 1, unless it has changed considerably since I last bought some, is a mineral oil based lubricant.

 

The problem is as much the promotion, as the product.

WD40 is a great water dispersant, an average-to-good penetrant

and a rubbish lubricant.

3-in-1 is a good lubricant, a good penetrant and an average water

dispersant (it's better at rust prevention, completing the 3).

GT-85 is a good lubricant, penetrant and water dispersant.

The best I've ever used was Mega-Power 120, good water dispersant,

incredible lubricant and fantastic penetrant, 3 times better than WD40

(the clue was in the number!)

[stewartingram]

The problem is as much the promotion, as the product.

WD40 is a great water dispersant, an average-to-good penetrant

and a rubbish lubricant.

3-in-1 is a good lubricant, a good penetrant and an average water

dispersant (it's better at rust prevention, completing the 3).

GT-85 is a good lubricant, penetrant and water dispersant.

The best I've ever used was Mega-Power 120, good water dispersant,

incredible lubricant and fantastic penetrant, 3 times better than WD40

(the clue was in the number!)

 

I concur, but as this is a model railway forum, would like to remind others NOT to use 3-in-1 oil in our context. It does cause plastic degredation.

 

Stewart

 

(and throw away the WD40, the biggest bodger's tool going).

[chris p bacon]

 I told him it was not his liability and father looked up the relevant water regulation which required the company to provide each dwelling with a separate supply that could be individually isolated.

 

 

That isn't current.

 

My neighbour has her supply over next door and through the kitchen with the entry point 6 feet in the air along the party wall. They both tried to get a new main laid to the shared property but Anglian water will only do it if paid for, as there is an existing supply. 

Same for the lead replacement, it's not always free now.

[devondynosoar118]

Yeah mine was a while ago now. Thankfully new place has had all the pipes re done in the modern plastic mains pipe before I bought it.

Water supply regulations look like a thrilling read if you have insomnia.

Hopefully the Captains drive and lawn survive the visit from SWW!

Edited May 21, 2018 by devondynosoar118

[Captain Kernow]

Hopefully the Captains drive and lawn survive the visit from SWW!

Well, we'll see.

 

The did something similar a few years ago. I got back from work and found a huge spoil heap on my front lawn. They had spoken to CTMK, who was in at the time, but hadn't really explained fully.

 

The blokes that dug the 'ole then tried to put the turfs back after they'd repaired the pipe. They were not landscape gardeners. Fortunately during the process I had acquired the number of the local water company inspectors office (in Newton Abbot) and I badgered them relentlessly, until they got a proper landscape gardener to put some new turf down properly.

 

I shall be taking photos this time, before they turn up.

[rab]

Sometime after I bought my first house I had a card through the door from the water company, stating they suspected there was a leak in my pipe just my side of the stop tap.

 

I asked for further advice and someone from the company came round to have a look. He noticed an area of grass which was growing more than the rest and suggested that could well be where the leak was.

 

A couple of days later I set to with pick and shovel to dig out the area. I started off carefully, as guessed sooner later I'd come to the pipe, but as I got deeper,the ground got harder. I took one good swing with the pick and all of a sudden my three year old son who was watching me was being sprayed with water.

 

I rushed to turn off the stop cock, but nothing happened. In desperation more than anything else I opened the cover for the stop cock for the house next door and turned that one off - and the water stopped spraying my son. Fortunately my neighbours were about to go out for the day, which gave me time to sort things out.

 

At this point I did what I should have done in the first place, called a plumber. When he arrived he dug out around the pipe, and we were then able to see that what the builders had done was, rather than cut the pipes to the correct lengths, they had curved them around to take up the extra length, which meant my pipe went into the neighbour's garden then back to my stop cock, and his did the same, or opposite, if you get what I mean, so it was his pipe that was leaking under my garden.

 

Having split his pipe, I didn't like to tell him the leak was his responsibility; I got the plumber to sort that as well. Oh, and the reason for the original leak; the pipe had been laid direct onto rubble with no sand under it!

Edited May 21, 2018 by rab

[Enterprisingwestern]

Stop cocks are not necessarily what they seem, having come across variations on a theme whilst in the course of my work, certainly keeps you on your toes!

Older terraced housing generally had one pavement located stop cock which could in extreme circumstances shut off a whole street, and council houses in rows of 4 or 8 had one tap for the whole block, so if working in such properties, a degree of door knocking was required before starting.

Indeed my own boundary box when I lived in Nottingham was actually under my next door neighbours drive, due to the fact that more houses were built on the cul-de-sac than originally planned, but the decision was made after the laying of the water mains and services, 5 of the houses having water meters fitted in garages or kitchens.

 

Mike.

[2mmMark]

One tip I'd pass on is that when you've cleared the clag that builds up around the stop cock, pack the area around the stop cock with bubble wrap or similar which helps prevent clag build-up in future.

 

I'd also strongly support the recommendation to turn the stop cock and other shut-off valves from time to time and not to leave them tightly wound open, particularly if you're in a hard water area.

[kevinlms]

In answer to the second point - Yes -  I've heard it before lots of times and it's a leak.

 

Re the first point -  Who the f*** screws an access point shut ! The point of a stopcock is so that you can access it to turn the water off easily.

I'll probably show my ignorance here, but if the access point is in a driveway, does it make sense to screw the lid shut?

 

My thinking is that because it is in a driveway, if the cover is just held down by gravity, what stops it flipping open, then having a vehicle run over it and breaking the hinge? At least the photo appears to show a hinge.

 

Just curious and happy to be told I'm wrong. My thought is that the access point, ought not be in a driveway in the first place.

[Captain Kernow]

I'll probably show my ignorance here, but if the access point is in a driveway, does it make sense to screw the lid shut?

 

My thinking is that because it is in a driveway, if the cover is just held down by gravity, what stops it flipping open, then having a vehicle run over it and breaking the hinge? At least the photo appears to show a hinge.

 

Just curious and happy to be told I'm wrong. My thought is that the access point, ought not be in a driveway in the first place.

Good point, Kevin, but it used to be on our front lawn, but we had an extension built a few years ago and the drive widened, which is why the access hatch is now on the driveway.

 

The water company are sending their contractors tomorrow to fix the job, apparently. They have described it as a leak on the pipe between the outside stop cock and the water mains itself.

[eastglosmog]

........

 

The water company are sending their contractors tomorrow to fix the job, apparently. They have described it as a leak on the pipe between the outside stop cock and the water mains itself.

Like wow - that's fast work! Had you been in Thames Water area they would not have turned up for another fortnight yet - last time we had trouble it took them that long to come and fix the water hydrant stopcock in the road outside.  They only finally turned up (in the middle of the night, of course) after Thames Valley Police threatened them with prosecution for making the road dangerous (it was during a period of freezing weather last year).  TVP had a point, as the road is on a hill, is the main road to the station and gets a lot of traffic morning and evening.

[Captain Kernow]

Well, two chaps and a van turned up here late morning, and within two hours had repaired the leak, which was quite bad and was located immediately the water company's side of the stop cock.

 

They also replaced the stop cock with a modern version, together with a new access hatch and topped it all off with a neat square of new tarmac. All rather well done and I'm relieved that it's all completed.

 

Thanks to everyone for the helpful and supportive comments.

[brianusa]

Well, two chaps and a van turned up here late morning, and within two hours had repaired the leak, which was quite bad and was located immediately the water company's side of the stop cock.

 

They also replaced the stop cock with a modern version, together with a new access hatch and topped it all off with a neat square of new tarmac. All rather well done and I'm relieved that it's all completed.

 

Thanks to everyone for the helpful and supportive comments.

 

Always good to have a happy ending.  Now, if only our water damage saga was over as well!

 

Brian.