Lead Pipes

[josborn]

Morning all

Just moved into the area and found, by way of a leak, that I have some lead pipes in the house & connecting to the mains from Thames Water - unsurprising in a Victorian house, I'm sure. I'm getting Thames water to test the water, to be on the safe side. But I wondered how others have handled this. Are there under-sink or other types of filters that you use and would recommend? If the level is considered "safe" by the EU standard are people taking this as a go-ahead to use the water direct from the tap as usual or are you filtering as well? We have a baby arriving in Feb so particularly concerned about using tap water to make baby food etc, if anyone has thoughts on or experience with that?

Many thanks!

Jess

[Alec John Moore]

This gives some information:

http://dwi.defra.gov.uk/consumers/advice-leaflets/lead.pdf

When we moved in to our Victorian house there was a short length of lead pipe from the stop valve outside the property to just inside the basement. We had it replaced with copper pipe. I think we did this when the plumber was doing other work to the central heating system.

Alec

[fizzmoll]

You may find that the lead pipe is covered with layer of limescale internally, protecting you from the lead. Doing a test is a good idea.

[josborn]

That's what I'm hoping fizzmoll = finally, an upside to hard water!! Thank you Alec for the link!

[DirtyBox]

We also had a lead pipe but have since replaced it with a modern poly pipe as we wanted to get some extra water pressure in the house. The guys that did it used a "mole" to put the new pipe in so there was no digging and very little disruption, wasn't expensive either, around ?400 I think.

[josborn]

Hi Dirty Box - wow that sounds like it could be worth doing! Did you have a normal plumber do that?

[DirtyBox]

No, was a specialist who only do that, I assume the equipment isn't cheap.

We used Curaleak - 07969 940 431, think the guy's name is Ian

Loads come up in a search as well:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=replace+water+main+with+mole&oq=replace+water+main+with+mole&aqs=chrome..69i57.8703j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8

[josborn]

Thank you for the contact for Ian. J

[LondonMix]

Our Victorian house had a lead pipe leading for the stop valve outside just like AM. We were doing a major refurbishment to the house and as part of installing a megaflow style heating system also replaced the pipe for water flow reasons.

We were digging up our front bath anyhow but I don't know how messy a job it is if you aren't doing major work. Good luck but I think its very common. I imagine unless someone has done recent plumbing work like us, most Victorian houses still have some amount of lead pipework.

[se22cat]

I seem to remember this was an issue that was discovered & recognized by whatever Thames Water (the Water Board???) in the early 80s in East Dulwich & they arranged for homeowners with concerns for lead piping to be replaced, but wouldn't be surprised if a fair few properties got missed.

[gracey33]

What is a mole!?!? We've just coughed up ?1,600 for Thames Water to replace our lead pipe as we were told that was our only option. Clearly not spending enough time on the forum! :(

p.s. water pressure now amazing though. it was really crap before we had the lead pipe replaced.

[DirtyBox]

A mole is a bit of kit that they use to bore a hole from the street to your house without having to dig a trench, cheaper and less messy

[gracey33]

What is a mole!?!? We've just coughed up ?1,600+ for Thames Water to replace our lead communications pipe as we were told that was our only option. Clearly not spending enough time on the forum! :(

that said, water pressure now amazing. it was really crap before we had the lead pipe replaced.

we had a lead test done beforehand and lead levels were actually very very low but we had a baby (we still have him...) so felt like we had to make the change.

[*Bob*]

Beware The Blue Arrow of Death outside you house..

?1600+ sounds crackpot though.. was it a particularly long run from the street to the house?

[Seabag]

I had a blue pipe to the tap, then a lead pipe there onwards. And I have all my own teeth still

However, for pressure we had the whole thing done, we dug the trench (12" I think). It wasn't that pricey tho

[gracey33]

*Bob*, I wish. We have one of the smallest front yards in the whole of ED. My wheelie bins barely fit in! Our street is also relatively narrow...

Confused as to how we could possibly have been so misinformed. We were told by our builder and Thames Water that no one but Thames Water can change the communications pipe...

[*Bob*]

I suppose there could be something about your particular situation that has lead (boom boom) to that cost and advice (?) but generally the supply pipe from the street to your house is your responsibility and you can choose how to deal with it.

e.g. if Thames find a leak in it - they inform you and you're obliged to fix it. But it's up to you how you do so entirely. You can ask them to quote; they can provide a range of 'approved companies' to fix it; or you can organise the whole thing yourself.

In the case of a leak, Thames used to provide an incentive one-time grant towards the cost of making the repair. Can't remember exactly how much, but it was something like ?125 towards a 'part repair' and a bit more for replacing the whole supply pipe.

From memory the quotes for us (from a Thames approved type outfit) were ?450 for a part repair or ?750 to do the whole thing (which for us was a run of maybe 8 or 9 metres from the water box in the street, under a wall, with some concrete work where it came into the house. This was only for the supply pipe from kerbside to front of house though - not replacing all the pipe work once it gets into the house as well, which might have added a bit.

As I say, maybe find out if your situation was unusual for some reason.. before blowing your stack!

[gracey33]

Ooh I **think** I know what the issue is. We had lead everywhere - supply pipe (my responsibility) and communications pipe (technically their responsibility).

We replaced the supply pipe and that was relatively inexpensive. For the communications pipe, TW would only replace the lead pipe if it significantly affected the quality of our water. They did a test and found that the lead concentration in our water was minimal so refused to change for free but "offered" to change it if we paid them an arm and a leg.

Everyone in my household is now banned from drinking anything outside of the home. We are going to get back our money's worth.

[*Bob*]

God Bless Thames Water and their never-ending generosity and good value.

Ah yeah - the comm pipe probably involves digging up the road?

[shawnsanchez]

It is better if you get the lead pipe replaced.I had a lead pipe and it was replaced by brothers plumbing.Lead is very harmful especially for children. The lead actually gets into the drinking water when the lead pipes corrode. The most common problem is with the brass/chrome-plated brass faucets and fixtures with the lead solder from which significant amount of lead can enter the water especially if it?s hot water. Young children and fetuses are particularly vulnerable to lead because the the physical and behavioral effects of lead occur at lower exposure levels in children than adults.A dose of lead that would have little effect on an adult can have a significant effect on a child. In children the low level of exposure can lead to damage in the central and peripheral nervous system, learning disabilities and impaired formation and function of blood cells.Here is an article that briefs about the ill effects of using lead http://www.brothersplumbing.ca/services/water-services/lead-pipe-replacement/ If you are planning to replace the pipe on your own then I would suggest that you use Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride(CPVC) . This material is best for people who replace the pipes on their own.Otherwise you could look for materials like copper.