Yet another water problem
Discussion
Ian Lancs said:
Any help appreciated!
Returned from annual Christmas trip to parents to find that I've no cold water in the house (heating had thankfully been left on whilst I was away). Tried the usual suspects of hairdryer against the incoming pipe (blue plastic before it meets my stopcock and then copper) which didn't seem to do anything. A plumber mate has been and proved that there is no feed, and that the supply isn't frozen within approx 1m of my internal stop cock (stuck a flexipipe in and syphoned some water out).
So, is it possible that my supply is frozen somewhere under my house (meter is at bottom of drive, pipe enters through my kitchen at back of house)? Or is it possible that somewthing has gone wonky in the meter which is preventing flow to house?
Ta
Maybe someone turned off the external stop-cock in case you had forgotten to?Returned from annual Christmas trip to parents to find that I've no cold water in the house (heating had thankfully been left on whilst I was away). Tried the usual suspects of hairdryer against the incoming pipe (blue plastic before it meets my stopcock and then copper) which didn't seem to do anything. A plumber mate has been and proved that there is no feed, and that the supply isn't frozen within approx 1m of my internal stop cock (stuck a flexipipe in and syphoned some water out).
So, is it possible that my supply is frozen somewhere under my house (meter is at bottom of drive, pipe enters through my kitchen at back of house)? Or is it possible that somewthing has gone wonky in the meter which is preventing flow to house?
Ta
So you have removed your internal mains stop cock from the system and there is no water coming into the house still. You've checked that the external waterboard stop cock is 100% open, (might be worth turning it on and off).
As your neighbours have water and are tee'd off the same water main, it does look like there is a problem with your external stop cock/ service pipe. If this is true, then any under ground pipes on your land are your responsibility. Can you hear a leak at all?
As your neighbours have water and are tee'd off the same water main, it does look like there is a problem with your external stop cock/ service pipe. If this is true, then any under ground pipes on your land are your responsibility. Can you hear a leak at all?
Ian Lancs said:
Forgot to add that to the original post - neighbours either side of me both have cold water. I can't believe it would still be frozen after the last 3 days all being above freezing?
Yes it could be, remember the ground insulates from heat as well as cold, so changes above ground take a while to work through.Your pipe might be less deep than the neighbours, in a colder area, wetter ground, all these contribute, but probably as big a factor is that there hasn't been water flowing through the pipe, so the small amount of warmth that the mains water gives to the mains pipe hasn't happened in your case.
Have you tried pouring hot water on the external stopcock and meter, sometimes the metals conduct heat away quicker, leading to a cold spot, maybe by getting some heat on this the reverse might work?
Edited by munroman on Tuesday 28th December 19:33
Gingerbread Man - Your summary of what we've done is spot on. Cant hear any leaks. Can't see any evidence on the garden either, but given the snow melt thats not really surprising.
Munroman - not tried hot water on the meter, but I'll give it a go this morning.
Still hoping that United Utilities get their ar$e in gear and actually come check their side out. Is it possible that a buggered meter would stop all flow into my house?
Munroman - not tried hot water on the meter, but I'll give it a go this morning.
Still hoping that United Utilities get their ar$e in gear and actually come check their side out. Is it possible that a buggered meter would stop all flow into my house?
You say the meter is at the bottom of the drive, if so check the numbers on the dial if they are moving or change over a period of time (write them down go back and check after a couple of hours) then water is running and the leak may well be under drive etc. If the meter doesn't move then the blockage/freeze is not on your property and will be up to your local water authority to sort out.
Gav147 said:
You say the meter is at the bottom of the drive, if so check the numbers on the dial if they are moving or change over a period of time (write them down go back and check after a couple of hours) then water is running and the leak may well be under drive etc. If the meter doesn't move then the blockage/freeze is not on your property and will be up to your local water authority to sort out.
Good point re checking the meter, however,if the meter doesn't move it could be because no water is flowing into the house, so I am not clear on your reasoning that it is a problem before the meter, as the neighbours either side have water it would be extremely unlikely to be a water authority issue.Ian Lancs said:
Turns out it was a frozen water meter which has now thankfully thawed 
Ours has a huge 9" deep polystyrene plug on top of it, to insulate it from the cold. To read the meter one opens the top, pulls out the big plug and then you can see it at the bottom of the hole.Did the meter break/split or is it OK?
Ian Lancs said:
Meter was ok thankfully. Company came to replace it just after I'd discovered that the water was back on; did a quick check of it and everything hunkydory.
Was the poly plug supplied by your water company?
Yes, they fitted it when they installed the meter - it's an outside one near my front gate.Was the poly plug supplied by your water company?
It doesn't need to be perfect - any old polystyrene from packing etc would probably do, as long as it fills up the hole and you can (eventually) get it out again.
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