Help, water leak. Any Thames water gurus here?

We had something similar a few weeks ago. The new annual charge was much, much higher than last year, and a quick shufti down at tge meter confirmed the spinny thing was making itself dizzy, even with the stopcock off. I left it a few weeks for reasons below, then  reported it to SevernTrent, whose 2 men in a van came a couple of days later and pressurised it with a gas canister of something or other, then waved a ‘sniffer’ detector over the block paved drive.

They said “Looks like it’s around here” gesturing in the direction of the corner of the house, which would sort of make sense, given there’s a guttering downpipe just there, and a drain. I’d had the foresight to take out Homeserve insurance cover a couple of months previously when the initial high bill arrived… the terms of that insurance included “No claim allowed for the first month”

Anyway, the Homeserve man came a few days later, gassed again, and found a strong whiff in a different place entirely. He dug down about 4ft and found the leak where the plastic pipe was touching the underneath of a clay drain. He said it happens that when they run the mains pressure pumps at night, it sets up a bit of vibration at times, and that’d rub through the plastic pipe after several years. He cut out a section about 12″ long, spliced a new piece in, and filled the hole. All good so far since then.

Only you can stop your leak with an item you own two of,

Your phone & your mouth

Ok, spoke to Thames water. The bad news is the first appointment for them to come and look for the leak is October! I took it. The good news, they will look to completely replace the lead pipe, not patch it, and there is no charge for this (assuming the leak is as I think, under the lawn not the house). So we are (until we are refunded after the fix) paying for [counts on fingers] about 155m3 of water or about an eighth of an Olympic swimming pool! The first appointment is just confirming where the leak is…. then book a fix.   I could be well on the way to a full pool before it’s fixed.

Ask them about a leakage allowance, once the leak is fixed they should be able to calculate your normal usage from previous bills and two check readings on the meter. This was our policy when I was on customer service/leakage with Dwr Cymru.

Thanks,  I did so I’m confident I’ll get the cash back,  but I could be chasing quite a lot by the time it’s fixed. Fingers crossed it doesn’t get any worse.

By October you could have probably excavated the entire length of the pipe run with a trench spade.
Found the leak , taught yourself plumbing, fitted a transition coupler and run a length of mdpe from the house back to the road .

Update:  so I got the first available appointment to fix the pipe which was yesterday.   They arrived,  faffed,  and after 2 hours found the leak right beside the meter,  under the pavement,  and as far as I’m concerned,  not on my property.

They patched it and went away.  Looking just now as I took a reading,  I think I might have a new meter,  not entirely sure though.

I’m now looking at the Thames water leak allowance form to claim back the cash.  It says only eligible if the leak was fixed inside 4 weeks. I hope since I acted very quickly at every stage and the delay was them,  plus the leak actually being outside my property not on it,  means they will pay me back, as I’ve gone over the bills and the excess now amounts to £2000.  Looking at my bills very carefully,  it started leaking 13-14 months ago and my bill last December was up slightly but not loads,  then I had the big bill back in July,  and the leak has increased since then.

Fingers crossed I get the cash returned.

Interesting.  I wonder how they define the property boundary…. is it the actual boundary or ‘your’ side of the meter?  I would expect the meter to be theirs anyway so if the issue was with that then it’s their problem.

If the leak is on the pavement, then it is not in your boundary.

The leak was in the pipe, my supply pipe, but not yet in my property.  If I need to argue (if they say its been too long to fix to get the leakallowance)  I’ll very much be arguing ‘not my pipe to fix!’   I’m hoping,  since I’ve done all the chasing and taken the first appointment each time,  that I’ll get the money back.  Especially since I asked initially about getting the cashback and was told I would but not given the form as it couldn’t be completed until fixed.  It’s not until you read that form that it says the leak must be fixed in 4 weeks…. so I feel like I’ve been misdirected too.

Anyway… i’ll take a reading in 2 weeks to confirm useage has returned to normal and submit the form…. braced for a refusal first off and prepared to go through complaints if needed.

I wonder how they define the property boundary…. is it the actual boundary or ‘your’ side of the meter?

This. It does seem to depend on where you look. Certainty Severn Trent regard anything on the customer side of the connection to the main to be the customer’s responsibility, as we found out- our leak was 3 m outside our boundary under Malvern Hills Trust land but we were told anything between the stopcock next to the road and our house was not their responsibility- in our case that’s about 35m of supply pipe outside our boundary.

If its outside your property boundary, it’s their problem regardless of the pipe

Since today I also received my 6 monthly bill and I’m not keen to pay more than is due,  I’ve call them.

1.  They are cancelling the DD for now. And will wait for the leak allowance form to arrive.  Yay

2. The delay of over 4 weeks (they came and confirmed my leak 11 October) IS NOT A PROBLEM.  I was told I can explain what has happened in the covering email when returning the leak all5 form.  It seems reassuring that I will get the money back….blooming hope so!

djc1245Free Member
If its outside your property boundary, it’s their problem regardless of the pipe

Unfortunately not the case. From Severn Trent site

Please be aware that the water main or communication pipe that supplies your property may be in a different highway from the one immediately outside your property. The responsibility of the company ends at the boundary of the highway in which the relevant main or communication pipe is laid.

From the boundary of the highway, the water is then supplied to the property through a supply pipe. This means the property owner (or group of property owners where numerous properties are served by the supply pipe) is responsible for their supply pipe, even if it crosses other privately or publicly-owned land before entering their home.

Some properties may also have a secondary stop tap in addition to the controlling stop tap closest to the main – liability for the supply pipe does not change with the presence of a secondary stop tap on the private supply pipe.

https://www.stwater.co.uk/my-supply/tap-water/my-water-pipes/water-pipe-responsibility/#:~:text=There%20a%20two%20main%20groups,provides%20water%20to%20the%20property.

Edited for clarity