Water Supply
If you have any concerns about your water main and require our water main services repair services, then please contact our team today on 0870 863 0123.
The water main for your property provides fresh, clean water to your home. Inside your house, you will have an internal stop tap (commonly found in the kitchen), and the water main will run to from the external stop tap (commonly found in the pathway/road outside your property).
However, sometimes a property might share an external stop tap with several surrounding properties, in this instance turning off the external stop tap will cut the supply to all connected properties. You are responsible for the pipework that connects your property to the external stop tap, it is important to make sure that the water main that connects your property remains in good working order. Therefore, you are responsible for making sure that any water main repairs are carried out.
The main problem that can arise with water mains is a leak developing, this can lead to high water bills and a loss of water pressure at the property. If you have a leaking water main at your property, there are several repair methods that we at Below Ground Solutions recommend:
At Below Ground Solutions we have spent countless hours carrying out water main services such as repairing, maintaining and installing water mains throughout England and Wales. We have become experts at repairing water leaks quickly and dealing with the unexpected and unwanted. All of our water engineering teams carry the latest technologies in audio leak detection ensuring when we arrive on site we can narrow down the source of the leak quickly and return the property’s water supply as efficiently as possible.
A water leak can often strike at the wrong time – they are always unexpected and require a reliable water leak detection service.
There are several indicators that you may have a water leak:
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A higher than average water bill is a sign that you have a water leak.
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If your water meter is spinning whilst no appliances (taps, washing machine, shower etc) are in use this could mean you have a water leak.
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Often there are visual indicators of a leak such as water coming up from the ground.
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Sometimes it is possible to hear a water leak depending on your surroundings and the severity of the leak.
Once you notice a water leak it is important to act fast, a long-term leak will result in higher water bills and may cause lasting damage to your home/property.
All our teams based across England and Wales carry the very latest equipment in water leak detection. With ground penetrating listening devices we are often able to locate a leak before carrying out any excavations. We pride ourselves on ensuring our staff receive up to date training on all the latest technologies, this allows us to carry out water leak detection and repairs with the maximum efficiency.
Our dedication to staff training means we always find the water leak while causing the least amount of disruption to your property and life. Rest assured that all our engineers are fully trained in carrying out water main repairs such as point repair, re-routing and moling. Not only do we offer a top-quality leak detection and repair service we will endeavour to make sure that we restore your property to the same condition we found it (minus the leak) if not in an improved state. Contact us today on 0870 863 0123 to discuss our water main leak detection services further.
A water main will run between the external stop tap typically found externally in the footpath, and the internal stop tap usually found under the kitchen sink or in a downstairs bathroom.
It is important to remember that these are the typical locations of stop taps but every property will have a different layout and combination of stop taps. The path that the water main takes through your property is often called the run of the pipe.
The water main to your property probably would have been laid/installed at the time the property was built. Typically, it runs in a straight line from the EST (external stop tap) to the IST (internal stop tap) however this is not always the case. With some water mains zigzagging across the property before joining the stop taps. In certain situations, external stop taps may be shared across several properties resulting in multiple buildings sharing one supply, often called a shared water main.
A water leak can happen anywhere along the water main, on some occasions the leak may be present underneath the property. In these situations it is common to consider rerouting the water mains. Re-routing the water main requires diverting the pipework from its original path – this is often done as this is the less disruptive and more certain option.
There are many reasons why a water main might be re-routed:
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If the leak is under the property.
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If a point repair is not possible.
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Sometimes it is not cost effective to carry out a point repair (for example if the leak was under a pond or extension).
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Sometimes re-routing the water main may save money (for example if the leak is located under a newly installed kitchen floor).
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If the leak is on an old section of pipe, it might be worth future proofing by getting the whole section replaced.
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There are many reasons a pipe might need re-routing, give our team a call today and we can discuss your options.
In every situation where possible Below Ground Solutions will use a method of re-routing called moling, to limit the amount of disruption caused by the works.
In most cases, water mains will run between two stop taps, your internal stop tap and the external stop tap. The water main to your property provides the recipient with fresh water supplied by your local water authority.
It is important to make sure that the water main that connects your property to the local authority owned water main in the road remains serviceable to continually provide fresh clean water.
One of the biggest problems that will arise with water mains is a leak developing on the supply between the internal and external stop taps. When a water main has a leak the property will most likely start receiving high water bills and you may be able to see the leak by water pooling on your property. Most water mains run from the external stop tap in the footway outside your property under your front garden/drive and under your house, before rising up and connecting to the internal tap in the kitchen or bathroom.
When you have a leaking water main at your property it is important to get leak detection experts on-site as quickly as possible to ensure the least amount of damage is done. If the leak only affects one section of pipe the recommended repair method is to carry out a point repair. A point repair is one of the most common repairs carried out on water mains. It is done by removing the damaged section of the water main and replacing it with a new strip of modern pipework, and generally on a single leak a point repair will be sufficient in stopping the leak.
Why not call in the water line point repair experts, to help solve the issue?
In this photo, you can see a leaking black water alkathene pipe. Leaks can develop for many reasons the most common reasons are water freezing in the pipes and expanding, or wear and tear.
To fix the leak the water is first turned off, then the leaking section of pipe is cut out and replaced with a new section of pipe. You can see in this picture that the new section of pipe has stopped the pipe from leaking.
Below Ground Solutions have been using trenchless technology such as impact moling to carry out water main replacements and re-routes for many years. The process will require two separate pits – a launch pit and a reception pit – once the mole has passed between the 2 pits the new water main is then pulled through and left ready to connect to.
A mole can only be fired in a straight line so a job might require more than 1 pair of launch and reception pits. Moling is a good way of quickly replacing large amounts of pipework. With a limited amount of excavations, and therefore reinstatements, moling will cause far less surface disruption than other water main replacement methods such as trenching. Moling can be used to cover large areas for replacing pipework or for smaller distances such as water main repairs.
Why would I want moling?
Moling is used as a quicker, less disruptive, and more efficient method of renewing a water main. A mole might be used where it is not possible to carry out trenching due to various surface imperfections. A mole will cause less surface disruption than trenching and other methods, it is also more environmentally friendly than open excavations.
What is moling?
Moling is the process of firing pipework from the launch pit to the reception pit. A mole can only be fired in a straight line so you might need more than one launch and reception pits. By using a mole to shoot the new pipework under the ground the amount of surface disruption is minimised.
What are the benefits of moling?
Replacing a water main through moling, as opposed to trenching, offers several major benefits. Moling will cause less disruption as you only need to make two excavations (a launch and a reception pit) instead of carrying out expensive untidy trenching, which may be several metres long. Moling will mean fewer excavations that will need reinstating, meaning the work can be carried out more competitively.
How much does moling cost?
When it comes to pricing up a mole there are several contributing factors that will make up the final cost of moling. Moling itself is priced per metre so any costing would be based on the length of the pipework. A mole can only be fired in a straight line so in order to go around a property/corner, additional pits (on top of the launch and reception pits) may be required.