Half houses and issues with water supply

[indiepanda]

Not sure if this is the right section, but half houses aren't something I'd come across before I moved to East Dulwich so maybe it is.

I've got a Victorian half house where both sides were owned by one family until the 1960s and the stopcock is on my side (i.e. the neighbours can't turn the water supply off in an emergency without accessing my house) and the water supply shared between us.

Now, I don't mind my neighbours needing to have a key in case of emergencies when I am not around - would be useful if I ever lost my keys and they are lovely people so I don't have any trust issues. H

However, I am finding suddenly getting a pathetic trickle of water in the shower just because their family is getting ready the same time as me in the morning (as I expect most of East Dulwich residents would!) really frustrating. Doesn't help my boiler seems to struggle to kick in when water pressure drops - so it's not just a trickle but sometimes a very cold one. The water pressure never seems great round here anyway - (mid Underhill Road) not sure if related to the various issues Thames Water has had with leaks.

Is this issue a common one with half houses in East Dulwich? If so, has anyone had the water supply split and how did you go about getting it done / how expensive was it / did you see a real difference?

[P.O.U.S.theWonderCat]

I'm in a half-house in SE23. We haven't had the same problem as I assume they split the water supply before we bought it, but I seem to recall other people talking about shared stopcocks when water meters were installed here. You may want to try the se23.life forum too.

[James Barber]

Perhaps wroth asking Thames Water for separate supplies.

One way of making this happen might be to ask for a water meter.

If you get stuck email me and I can try talking to Thames Water.

[indiepanda]

Just to update in case anyone else is in a similar situation.

Whilst Thames Water could do this, it's going to mean digging a trench across the road as the water main is under the pavement on the opposite side of the road. I'd then need to get a plumber to do all the pipework on my property - and our places had gardens deep enough to replace them with parking spaces, so that wouldn't be a quick job either.

On the grounds of cost (not to mention the inconvenience it would inflict on all my neighbours and everyone on the P13 bus route) I am going to have to put this in the too difficult box.

I can only advise if you are thinking of buying a half house make sure you check the water supply before buying. It never occurred to me I might not have my own supply and it really is a nuisance.

[worldwiser]

We discovered we're in a similar situation when I asked to have a meter fitted. What we found is that our neighbour shares a supply with us for their kitchen but the rest of their house is on their own connection. TW has put us on some kind of reduced fixed rate tariff for people who can't get a meter. The shared supply never came up in the water searches when we bought the place as I don't think TW has a clue where pipes are round here.

[indiepanda]

worldwiser Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> TW has put us on some kind

> of reduced fixed rate tariff for people who can't

> get a meter.

Hmmm... I wonder if I might be able to persuade them to do this for me - maybe I should try calling the meter team and see if I have any luck that way - did you have to complain to get this or did they offer? I'd still rather have decent water pressure but it would be nice to at least pay less for the trickle I sometimes get.

Talking to neighbours today it sounds like our particular pair of houses are getting worse pressure off the main than others along the same row, might be more to this than just the shared water supply causing our issues...

[worldwiser]

This is the website for you: https://www.thameswater.co.uk/My-Account/Billing-and-payment/Our-charges/Assessed-Household-Charge

[indiepanda]

worldwiser Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> This is the website for you:

> https://www.thameswater.co.uk/My-Account/Billing-a

> nd-payment/Our-charges/Assessed-Household-Charge

thank you!

[fishbiscuits]

Could you have a water tank installed, and feed all your (non-drinking) water from that? I would have thought that would pretty much solve the pressure problem.

[GrahamP]

Check the stop cock is fully open/working properly in house and road.

[bil]

indiepanda Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Not sure if this is the right section, but half

> houses aren't something I'd come across before I

> moved to East Dulwich so maybe it is.

>

> I've got a Victorian half house where both sides

> were owned by one family until the 1960s and the

> stopcock is on my side (i.e. the neighbours can't

> turn the water supply off in an emergency without

> accessing my house) and the water supply shared

> between us.

>

> Now, I don't mind my neighbours needing to have a

> key in case of emergencies when I am not around -

> would be useful if I ever lost my keys and they

> are lovely people so I don't have any trust

> issues. H

>

> However, I am finding suddenly getting a pathetic

> trickle of water in the shower just because their

> family is getting ready the same time as me in the

> morning (as I expect most of East Dulwich

> residents would!) really frustrating. Doesn't help

> my boiler seems to struggle to kick in when water

> pressure drops - so it's not just a trickle but

> sometimes a very cold one. The water pressure

> never seems great round here anyway - (mid

> Underhill Road) not sure if related to the various

> issues Thames Water has had with leaks.

>

> Is this issue a common one with half houses in

> East Dulwich? If so, has anyone had the water

> supply split and how did you go about getting it

> done / how expensive was it / did you see a real

> difference?

Hi Indiepanda

I thought this was a common issue in houses/flats around the parts of ED on the hill e.g. Dunstans, Upland, Overhill...Maybe I'm wrong.

I live in a house (whole not half) and have the same problem. Most of the time the water flow through the shower is OK (never powerful) and during 'rush hour' it can reduce drastically, sometimes just a trickle as you mention. I contacted Thames Water about this years ago and they did some work which improved it but since then it's returned back to how it was (they've done numerous works since so perhaps they undid what they had rectified previously).

We fitted a system boiler with cylinder but that made no difference. We will have to consider other alternatives.

[Penguin68]

Many people find that fitting a shower pump improves things - if you have a shower in the loft space (i.e if you've had a loft extension) then you will need a 'negative head' shower as the water tank is likely to be at the same level or below your shower head. Because ED is very hilly mains water pressures can vary, particularly where the mains flow is compromised (as it so often is locally) by leaks.

HOWEVER most showers are run not from the mains but from water tanks - unless your tanks and hot water cylinder are also shared the fact that the mains stopcock is on the other owner's land should be irrelevant to your water pressure, and particularly when it comes to shower pressures.

[indiepanda]

bil Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi Indiepanda

>

> I thought this was a common issue in houses/flats

> around the parts of ED on the hill e.g. Dunstans,

> Upland, Overhill...Maybe I'm wrong.

>

> I live in a house (whole not half) and have the

> same problem. Most of the time the water flow

> through the shower is OK (never powerful) and

> during 'rush hour' it can reduce drastically,

> sometimes just a trickle as you mention. I

> contacted Thames Water about this years ago and

> they did some work which improved it but since

> then it's returned back to how it was (they've

> done numerous works since so perhaps they undid

> what they had rectified previously).

>

> We fitted a system boiler with cylinder but that

> made no difference. We will have to consider other

> alternatives.

Ah, well it's reassuring to know its not just me and also that it can happen even if you don't have a shared water supply. I would have been furious if I had spent out to get the water supply split and then still have lousy pressure.

I was noticing the water pressure was especially bad when I started this thread but it hasn't been so bad recently, seems to be really unpredictable when it is going to play up.

[indiepanda]

Penguin68 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Many people find that fitting a shower pump

> improves things - if you have a shower in the loft

> space (i.e if you've had a loft extension) then

> you will need a 'negative head' shower as the

> water tank is likely to be at the same level or

> below your shower head. Because ED is very hilly

> mains water pressures can vary, particularly where

> the mains flow is compromised (as it so often is

> locally) by leaks.

>

> HOWEVER most showers are run not from the mains

> but from water tanks - unless your tanks and hot

> water cylinder are also shared the fact that the

> mains stopcock is on the other owner's land should

> be irrelevant to your water pressure, and

> particularly when it comes to shower pressures.

No shower in the loft but I am on a hill and talking to neighbours those further down the hill don't seem to have problems as much as we do.

I don't think I have a water tank anywhere in the house, usual place would be in the loft right? If there is one it's right the opposite end of the house to the kitchen and bathroom in the remaining eves storage but I am pretty sure I cleared that out enough to have spotted if there was one in there (the old owners left a bunch of boxes and carpet offcuts in there, hence the need to clear out). Maybe it got removed when they converted the loft into an extra bedroom.

[Sue]

A plumber would be able to tell you.

In fact I'm pretty sure a plumber would be able to sort the whole thing out?

Good luck!