Trouble turning off mains water.

[vard0]

Hi

I'm trying to locate the stopcock for my house. There is a tap under my kitchen sink which I turned off, however 5 minutes later, the water was still flowing normally out of my cold water taps. The only tap that did stop flowing was an nearby outside tap located under the kitchen window. How long would it normally take for the pressure to drop in all the taps if that had been the correct valve?

There is a water mains cover outside the front of my house, but when I opened it, it was filled with soil and dirt. Is it likely that the only stop valve for the house will be in there?

Thanks for humoring a newbie.

 

[Softus]

I'm trying to locate the stopcock for my house. There is a tap under my kitchen sink which I turned off, however 5 minutes later, the water was still flowing normally out of my cold water taps. The only tap that did stop flowing was an nearby outside tap located under the kitchen window.

Then that valve is only for the outside tap.

How long would it normally take for the pressure to drop in all the taps if that had been the correct valve?

About one second after opening a tap.

There is a water mains cover outside the front of my house, but when I opened it, it was filled with soil and dirt. Is it likely that the only stop valve for the house will be in there?

Yup.

Get a hosepipe and a wet-vac; direct the hose pipe into the stopcock recess and suck out the slurry with the wet-vac; repeat until clear, whilst periodically swearing at the water authority under your breath.

 

[BoxBasher]

There is a tap under my kitchen sink which I turned off, however 5 minutes later, the water was still flowing normally out of my cold water taps. The only tap that did stop flowing was an nearby outside tap located under the kitchen window.

then you have probably just turned off the control to the outside tap.

There is a water mains cover outside the front of my house, but when I opened it, it was filled with soil and dirt. Is it likely that the only stop valve for the house will be in there?

Yes, sounds like your main stop tap.

 

[vard0]

Thanks for your replies guys.

I guess I'll have to go the swearing route.

 

[BoxBasher]

periodically swearing at the water authority under your breath.

Not their fault that worms/ants fill boxes with soil. Water authority can't help that boxes get filled with coke cans/sweet wrappers/hypodermic syringes/tarmac/stone etc.

It might do you better to try and get some of it out with a tool before hand. Small garden hoe or a piece of tube may do the job. Wedge the tube into the muck, pull it out slowly and then whack it on the kerb to loosen what's stuck inside.

Will make wet vac job easier if there's less solids.

 

[Softus]

Not their fault that worms/ants fill boxes with soil. Water authority can't help that boxes get filled with coke cans/sweet wrappers/hypodermic syringes/tarmac/stone etc.

Oh blimey. Given that the job is a tad unpleasant, it's useful to have someone to harmlessly-swear-under-the-breath at. Who else would you recommend?

It might do you better to try and get some of it out with a tool before hand. Small garden hoe or a piece of tube may do the job. Wedge the tube into the muck, pull it out slowly and then whack it on the kerb to loosen what's stuck inside.

That would certainly make the job take longer, if that's what you mean by better.

Will make wet vac job easier if there's less solids.

I'm very confused - how do you make sucking half a bunch of slurry out of a hole with a wet vac "easier" than sucking a bunch of slurry out of a hole with a wet vac?

 

[BoxBasher]

I'm very confused - how do you make sucking half a bunch of slurry out of a hole with a wet vac "easier" than sucking a bunch of slurry out of a hole with a wet vac?

I just find it a lot easier clearing large lumps of dry material out as far as the tap crutch as opposed to having to clear the whole chamber out of wet slop, and more often than not the collapsed sides as well.

Chalk that one up to a difference of opinion - possibly a biased opinion as I never use a vac. I find it easier to shift dry or fairly firm wet stuff with a spoon bar/scoop than it is to shift wet sloppy stuff. When I have to move wet stuff I tend to find that less lumps and thinner solution is far easier.

 

[Softus]

Chalk that one up to a difference of opinion - possibly a biased opinion as I never use a vac.

Fair play. No worries.

 

[BoxBasher]

Not their fault that worms/ants fill boxes with soil. Water authority can't help that boxes get filled with coke cans/sweet wrappers/hypodermic syringes/tarmac/stone etc.

Oh blimey. Given that the job is a tad unpleasant, it's useful to have someone to harmlessly-swear-under-the-breath at. Who else would you recommend?

I usually swear at the little b*****rds that put coke cans and crisp packets down there - usually the one whose fish wife "mother" is swearing at you because her plumber doesn't know how to freeze or squeeze a pipe and she's annoyed that her inside tap is dripping all over her filthy kitchen