water supply in victorian era terraced house

[paul3rd]

How does the water supply go into a victorian terraced house?

Is it through the front of the house under the floor to where the pipe comes out of the utility room floor at the back of the house or would it come around the back way as the pipe in the utility room is tucked right into the corner againt the outer wall (which seems to bend in towards the wall).

The reason i ask is that the pipe connected to the internal stopcock that comes up the floor and the pipe that comes out of the wall to supply the garden tap are lead which makes me wonder if the whole supply line is lead and i'm wondering wether to have a new one put in.... but if it comes in through the front then would it mean chopping a 750mm trench through the house?

There is an 8 foot gap 5 doors down between houses where you can drive around the back and the stopcock is in this gap level with the garden walls are which makes me wonder if the supply goes around the back which i suppose would make it easier to replace?

I've emailed Anglian water but they seem to be ignoring me

any ideas?

sorry if i've waffled on

 

[Agile]

Houses can be supplied from the front or the back.

As kitchens were usually at the back, many terraces were supplied from the back as yours seems to be done.

The cost of replacing with plastic would need to be shared between all the houses and about £500 each so unlikely everyone will agree.

Tony

 

[big-all]

my shared water supply comes in next door and appears above the ceiling in the kitchen

next door now have there own supply instead off sharing so my nearest stop cock is under the kitchen radiator next door

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Properties of that era often had a shared supply running along the back. Fed the original outside W.C and the kitchen sink, where it 'comes in' from the street can vary. The original lead supply to my house runs under the building about 5 houses down. (Most have our own supply now.)

As long as it is 750mm down outside, it can come up inside the house at a suitable point. Some run up the wall in a corner at the front, then running under upstairs floorboards to where needed. Mine comes in under hallway floor, to emerge in the understairs cupboard. May not be to current rags but has never frozen. (Yet.... )

 

[paul3rd]

Ok thanks guys

the water supply goes to 15 other houses so i don't think they'd all be prepared to chip in if it's a lead pipe

A guy at work said it could be a modernised water line connected to the old lead mains riser??

don't know if it's true but my water pressure is really good so perhaps it might be

i'll phone Anglian water to make some enquiries..the email system must get checked once a year

 

[JohnD]

your water co probably doesn't know

the Victorian builder will have put it in at whim.

 

[paul3rd]

Properties of that era often had a shared supply running along the back. Fed the original outside W.C
quote]

looking through the documents the solicitor sent me after i bought the house,a vaulation report says it had an outside toilet in 1977

could i put in a new water line just on my property by passing the old lead parts which would still connect to the old system?

The reason i ask is that the pipe that comes out of the wall for the garden tap is lead an must have been fitted a long time ago ,the plumber says they connected in to a straight piece of the riser so i have to turn the water off in the street and in the bad winter we've just had the leadlock sprung a leak...if the lead pipe bursts it's going to be a pain to replace


i ripped up the old wooden floor about a year and a half ago and concreted it...oh why didn't it happen then

 

[MJN]

The water for our Victorian (well, 1905) terrace comes is routed from the front to the back of the house, under every other property, to what was the scullery at the back. Hence, one supply for two houses (and in some cases only the single original stopcock thus causing some issues when one wants to turn the water off!).

With properties of that era there are no rules or absolute conventions about how they are routed so your only option is to get the water company to confirm. They will have surveyed the area many times over the years and will have plans available to show, at least approximately, the routing of the main water (and related services).

When preparing our house for sale we had a water search carried out and hence now have a copy of the plans showing where everything is. There was a cost for this but I don't have the figures to hand (it wasn't all that much though).

Phone the water company up - they'll be able to give you immediate advice (albeit after having passed you round to the right department!).

Mathew

 

[paul3rd]

Thanks

I did get a map of the water and the sewer system from the documents sent by the solicitor when we bought the house.

The sewer system is at the back of the house and runs down the 8ft gap at the side of the houses into the main road at the front

The water map only shows where the main runs down the road and not where it branches off to feed the houses

hopefully it's follow the sewers and end up in the back garden, making my problem easier to sort should the pipe burst


I'll give Anglian water a call cos they don't seem to answer their emails

 

[paul3rd]

Phoned Anglian water and they don't have a clue

she said as a general rule, if internal stopcock is to my left when i face the main in the road it would run under my house in a straight line

but she said that might not be the case as it depends on how the builder put it in

looks like i'll have to get someone in to trace it

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Obviously we cant see the property, but i'd hazard a guess the outside W.C. has now gone? The pipe feeding the outside tap was probably the original supply to the loo. Anglian Water are hopeless, they dont know what happened last week, let alone over 100 years ago. You'd be better off trying Water Divining to trace the pipe.

(However, AW do have their uses! Once your sewer joins to the neighbours, (so the pipe is taking the flow from more than one property), it becomes a shared sewer and is AW's responsibility. They wont tell you that though! Public Health Act 1936 makes it their responsibility.)

Nothing stopping you replacing water pipes on your property and joining to the original lead. It wont give you an independant supply though, and pressure/flow will remain as whatever the existing lead supply from the road allows.

 

[paul3rd]

I was wondering that about the original water supply for the WC feeding the tap at work tonight

The outside WC/brick storehouse mentioned on the 1977 valuation is now what could be the small downstairs shower room/toilet at the back of the house they must have done it up but left the original pipework into which they plumbed the outside tap...the lead pipe that comes out from the wall below the window seems to be wrapped in plastic

Going to give AW another phone call tomorrow, if the external stopcock belongs to them then surely they must know where it goes

if i can't get to the bottom of the water supply mystery then i'll attach a hose to the tap and leave it running in the winter...should stop it from freezing?

 

[paul3rd]

I could always stop paying the bill..they'd have to cut me off from a shared supply somehow

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Often the case with the Victorian terraced properties when the bathroom is on the ground floor at the rear. Easier to fit a W.C. to the existing drain, and block up the external door, creating a new bathroom in what was the outside W.C./coal shed.

Whilst A.W. may know where the stoptap is, they wont know where the pipe runs. Might be able to locate the pipe using a CAT and Genny though if you're really desperate to know where it goes. Once it passes the boundary onto private property it becomes the responsibility of the properties concerned. If it springs a leak, its down to you to sort it out!

Where are you concerned about it freezing?

 

[paul3rd]

Where the lead pipe comes out of the wall and attaches to the leadlock

i'm a bit concerned that with it having no internal stopcock , if it bursts then i'll have to dig up floors trying to find out the supply route

Thats why i'm trying to find out where the water supply runs...if it's around the back and branches off to feed the old WC before entering the house and i can get to it from outside then replace as much lead as i can and make the old WC supply redundant.


AW didn't even know where the stop cock is they said they'll send someone to find it if i wanted but i already know

they also said that there are people out there who can trace your pipework..look in the yellow pages but didn't tell me what catagory they fall under


i think i'll give up to be honest it's too much hassle and just leave the tap running in the winter , i'm not on a meter

I got the complete water insurance from homeserve...looks like that might be a wise investment in the future