Hi Andy, I have just replaced my lead water pipe in my own, which I wouldn’t have done if you hadn’t have made this video. My landscaper friend lent me 2 of his guys to dig the 7m x 800mm trench which toolk a day (it would have taken me a week!) I planned the connection/feed, bought the ducting, insulation, mdpe push fit bits, laid it in a Saturday afternoon and had it signed off yesterday. Water board said it was better than what most plumbers do! Cheers mate, love the channel!
That trench you dug was amazing--literally chiseled! So impressed that you are trying to the best of your ability to make any problems easier to deal with for future residents!
Admire your persistence in digging the tranche in such a weather 👍🏻 You are a man! and really liked your gentle reminders for the future residents! Well done!
More power to you. Know now I'll never tackle such a job. Can easily imagine someone selling rather than doing what you 've just accomplished. Youth, determination and knowledge are immense assets.
@@aleksanderk359 it’s great if you haven’t had an issue but the thing is it just increases the likelihood and also if pipes ever gets thin, it could create a problem
It kills me to see a man with your skills and talents spending hours digging a ditch. But I suspect that you found it somewhat satisfying, it was done exactly the way you wanted it done, and it saved you money. The aching back was worth it!
Hi Andy. The fixture that attaches your supply to the main is called a tapping ferrule. I would also suggest that a reducing valve would be a good idea...3 bar pressure wouldn't do your boiler and fittings a lot of good
Fit a PRV and set it to 3 bar as you have plenty of flow, they lag (catch up) a bit with lower flow rates, don’t set above 4 bar. Night static pressure increase with that flow rate could cause problems. Also you will probably void your boiler warranty, boiler maintenance contract and poss cause probs with showers, white goods etc. About £30 and easy to fit. You will lose some flow rate when the tap is opened however. Remember, flow rate and pressure are two different things, often confused. The pressure will ALWAYS equalise, no matter how small the pipe, it will just take longer to do so in a smaller, lower flow rate pipe.
I remember when we moved into our house many years ago and my poor hubby had to crawl from one end of the house to the other under the floor to connect our piping to the outside supply, all I can say is my heart was in my mouth with fear as I hate confined spaces
Another big reason to fit the water pipe in a duct at the point it enters the property is that in the event of a leak from the pipe, the leak won't wash away soil from around your foundations leading to subsidence.
Brilliant. Thanks. Did this a few years ago. Didn't know the regs for our area but, apart from insulation in the 110mm pipe that holds the water pipe, complied with all you've said and passed by water board who had to dig up street to replace lead pipe to the property. Also had to do an undercut in clay at edge of property. Water pipe inside 110mm soil pipe all the way from edge of property water meter into house. Water board impressed. Filled trench with pea shingle. I put a large trap door under mat inside front door so we even comply with stopcock where pipe enters house. Water flow massively increased. Digging trench down to the original lead pipe in dry, heavy London clay was hard work. Osteopath made a few £s and massive heart attack two years later with 3 resuscitations directly above the new pipe in April 2020. All good fun!
I wish all builders worked as neat and tidily as you do. You are so organised. In our last house extension, they totally destroyed our front garden, rather than use a bit of planning.
Fascinated by your videos and have gained loads of tips watching them. Used to work for my local water authority back in the day, and i seem to recall the what you call spigot is called a ferrule, a banjo fits over that that connects to the communication pipe, the pipe that feeds to property.
Every day is a learn something new day now that I'm watching your vids, and your choice of music is truly awesome. Wish you'd give the tracks a mention :)
I had my old lead pipe replaced last year in 32 mm plastic. I used a moling company so they took up some block paving near the stop valve and as the water runs into the garage a small hole where the supply terminated. it saved digging up the drive and garage floor. I arranged the pipework so that the 32mm incoming supply split off between downstairs and upstairs right at that point to maximise flow. The only exception was the flow to the boiler which obviously does both floors. There is virtually no difference in actual flow rate of a single tap as I checked before and after but the starvation when 2 taps are being used has vastly reduced. Wasn't cheap but all done in a day.
Great vid yet again. I'm loving this series. Not sure I'd have the energy to keep up by doing anything similar 😁. Regarding the pipe diameter, I would say you have definitely made the right choice. Flow rate losses are proportional to pipe diameter as well as pipe length so whenever you can increase diameter or reduce pipe length you're onto a winner due to less friction in the water flow regardless of what the supply diameter was. That's my understanding anyway but happy to learn from any fluid mechanics professor who disagrees 👍🤔
The backfilling was half River Dance half trench foot 😀 The channel has come a long way since Test Tuesday etc.it’s moved in a different direction but is the top of its game. The series has been excellent so far and lot’s still to come I’m sure👍 thank you
You do get extra pressure installing the 32mm as i had a 3 storey building plus a cellar. The top floor always had less pressure. We replaced the 15mm water pipes in the cellar to 32mm and that increased the water pressure to the top floor.
Pushing water vertically costs approximately 1/2 psi per foot, regardless of pipe size. Your pressure increase is the result of reduced friction inside the pipe while the water is flowing. When the water is static the pressure equalizes throughout the system, but will be 1/2 psi lower for each foot of elevation, so 30 feet = about 15 psi. If you have low pressure at the entry point in your building, the drop caused by elevation will be much more noticeable. If I did the calculation correctly 1/2psi =0.03447378 bar, and 15 psi equals about 1 bar. A significant number. 15 mm sounds undersized for anything but the supply line to one or two appliances. I am not surprised you got a significant improvement improvement. The only downside to larger pipes is perhaps cost, and, on the hot water side, a longer time to get the hot water to the outlet due to the larger volume stored in the pipe, which results in more water wasted. In the US the usual pipe sizes are 1/2", 3/4" and 1' inside diameter (not outside) for single family homes.
Lead replacement is free in the UK. Just ring your water company and they will arrange lead replacement from out in the road into the house with a new stop cock in the house. Lead beyond the stopcock within the house is the owners responsibility.
Those MDPE speed fit fittings are good. I would recommend putting in a 22mm full bore leaver valve in as well. Did mine about 5 years ago but trench only 2.5m long!
Nice one Andy, I wish we had done a flow test on our bungalow. Contractors had a tunnelling contraption to save all the digging, and they installed a insulated cover for the last part where it came into our bathroom and joined to our pipework.. We did notice a massive improvement and we are not on a party line with next door now. They charged us £1400 inc VAT so you did good, even if it was bloody hard work for you... Cheers Paul
Great job Andy. I have to do the same at our house one day. I think our lead pipe is leaking somewhere? Only thing I'd say is if above the trench is always going to remain lawn or border it's fine how you've done it. Doesn't matter how much you've walked on it, it will still sink a bit. If you want to extend the drive over it you would have been better with clean gravel in the bottom, then a layer of broken slabs and bricks etc to spread load, then MOT for the top 6-8 inches compacted in two inch increments. I've done this for a customer in the past.
@@GosforthHandyman Electrical warning tape would serve the ‘proceed with caution’ purpose. I have about 20 metres spare in my garage - did out the trench again and I will post it to you.😉
What a slog job, but it’s done and confidence is high. Very good of you to give the hat tip to the water board guys who braved the sub zero to get you hooked up. Not many TH-camrs would do it.
The water guys more than deserved it - top blokes and didn't complain once. They had to wait around for ages for the switchover too as they had to notify all the neighbours first. 👍👍
further to my last comment, just had Northumbrian Water out to ensure I was doing the right thing in copying your ducting and insulation to be told no way would they pass it. Just pleased I got guidance before doing all that pipework and insulation.
I’m currently digging out 1m to 1.4m high garden back from the rear of the house to create some space. The back garden is about 7.2m across. It’s all been done with a pickaxe and shovel, and the slicing trick very rarely works on the clay as my soil is absolutely brimming with natural stone. So it’s been an arduous loosening it all with the pick, taking out the stone for some nice wall projects, and barrowing the loose soil to the front for grab hire. I’ve dug out 24 tonne so far and lost 3 stone in the process. Back breaking indeed!
Fit a prv at 3 to 4 bar to balance the system, most shower valves are rated to a max pressure of 5 bar. Pressure can increase by as much as 50 percent at night meaning your fittings will be under 6 bar static. The prv will not reduce flow rate noticeable so you can have multiple taps and showers running at the same time without any issues.
Andy, hats off to you (again). You are such an inspiration to us all. If everyone took as much care doing things as you did, we'd all have better and safe homes to live in. And your work ethic is great. I think youngsters should watch all your vids and learn a few skills, other than video-gaming :-) (my kids included)...
We had a pressure of 6bar under general day conditions and after 4 years of regularly replacing seals and washers because of leaky taps etc we fitted a pressure reducer down to 3 bar result bloody brilliant ! .
@@GosforthHandyman most plastic water fitting seals are rated for a continual use of 7 bar ,yes our water pressure is high our small estate is at the bottom of a long steep incline and guess see the water mains is ! ! ?
The funny thing I found when replacing my pipe. Like you trench dug, sand bedding down pipe laid, I had to have that stage inspected also. But when connecting my new supply the supply company used a mole and just dragged the mdpe pipe through the soil no sand no sieving the back fill, but I guess they have to dig it up if it leaks!!
Gotta say, I didn't have the same energy (or passion?) like you for digging so it was a very complicated affair with plumbers etc but we got there all WIAPS approved. Water flow and pressure are fab, real world problem now if having to constantly change into a new T Shirt each time I use the kitchen sink as I'm so used to opening the tap to full !!
Great timing Andy. I bought a slow-burning renovation project 7 years ago and have always had in mind to do exactly this job. We're now thinking of building a porch which would go over where the lead water pipe comes into the house, so it's the ideal time to think seriously about replacing the water supply (and re-routing the pipe in the process). I will probably do exactly what you've done with 32mm pipe from the stopcock to the house.
I vaguely remember accompanying my Dad as he replaced the lead pipe to my Gran's house in Cornwall. Hacking a new trench through the 'Blue Elvan', the local name given by tin miners to the hard metamorphic rock, was worse than digging out the old lead. (Granite is softer!) It came across 30° slope to a near vertical rock face before entering the kitchen. Not sure about trench inspections but I think I was 10 or so. I think the lead pipe was nearer the surface, and got in the way of Dad's new vegetable patch plans. Your's is a very neat job in comparison. 👍
Great Video as always Andy! Had to smile at your outro of the dripping tap - the job never ends eh!? Or perhaps that was meant as a clue to your pop quiz re: pressure reducing valve? Really appreciate your approach to TH-cam and the content you provide - hopefully it’s as worthwhile to you as it is to us your grateful students.
Yes, fit a Pressure Reducing Valve, ideally an adjustable one. We had continual reoccurring overflow leaks from our mains pressure hot water tank until we got one installed.
I did the same but down in severn trent West Midlands a few years ago. Had to duct it under a sewer pipe and keep it 300mm away from other services. The house is a 1950s with shallow rebar reinforced foundations about 550mm deep. Dug under them and followed the old lead pipe. Used a core drill to drill through the kitchen concrete slab. It all cost about 200 - 300 quid. Companies wanted over £1,000. Flow is so much better, it doubled i think.
PRV is absolute 'yes'. I just had to fit one as boiler kept leaking and British Gas Homecare refused to support/fix the boiler due to mains pressure being too high. My flow rate has dropped a lot, but that could have been the lead-copper conversion I did at the same time (used Philmac UTC - awesome bit of kit!). Anyhow, loving this series. Keep the visa coming
Any increase in diameter at any point can only increase the flow at the outlet despite any restrictions anywhere else, because of reducing the frictional losses of the insides of the pipe, that's why fire engines tend to twin the hydrant supply's if they need that flow to be at the Max
About to start the process of digging my own trench to change over the mains pipe work but I work as a plumber so that’s my only advantage but still interesting to watch someone else do the process
The job I didn't know I wanted to do. Thanks for the inspiration. My water service pipe goes all the way from the front to back of my house diagonally through the basement before a stopcock!
It's defo worthwhile. Carefully plan the route, bear in mind the new stopcock doesn't need to go where the old stopcock was. Look in to having it moled if possible. 👍
@@GosforthHandyman Well worth replacing old main, & +1 for moling,can save you alot of digging..Good moling link here: th-cam.com/video/E-rehFGvP5s/w-d-xo.html
......and for everyone else who’s drinking water from lead pipes “you are doomed” lol but seriously I paid £550 to have this job done six years ago and this was in the northeast.
Lead is a neurotoxin which is particularly dangerous to the brain development of young children. Because of this, installation of lead pipes and plumbing fixtures containing lead has been banned in drinking water piping in the UK for more than 50 years. Similarly, lead has been banned from use in paint, in petrol and from other products to protect against lead exposure. People who drink water from old lead pipes are depending on an undisturbed layer of corrosion in the pipes to protect them from lead leaching into the water. If you think that is enough protection for your children, then I guess you can be happy with lead pipe. And the word you are looking for is "affect", not "effect".
Defo Allen - at best lead poisoning can cause irritability and mad mood swings, at worst it can cause brain damage and developmental issues. Not something I want for our family. 👍
Really informative video. my 1930's semi needs exactly some thing doing, i also had a leak in elbow on sewer pipe their was 3 different pipe sizes cast iron drain pipe to plastic elbow to clay sewer pipe. Enjoyable when you have a go sorting problems yourself. liked and subscribed.
Very useful. We’ve got a leak somewhere in the existing ancient water line in. So going to have to consider doing this. Scared about finding electric /sewage lines in my dig. Such and old house with no plans. I have no idea where it all is under ground.
Yep to PRV.. 100%. It protects boiler, protects your pipe work etc (especially with the push-fit generation). It’s great to have high pressure, but with spikes in the PM/early hours (sometimes can be +6bar), could do some damage. I always like to see prv with a strainer and double check, belt and braces.
You will also find that manifold plumbing systems will result in better water flow to plumbing fixtures as opposed to the traditional trunk and branch systems found in most U.K. properties. Not always easy to retrofit but if you’re ripping everything out and starting again - definitely recommended
Great vid and just what I needed to see. My plumber is mega busy and wasn't interested in the slightest in doing a replacement for me and certainly not any digging. Having checked with Northumbrian Water I've decided to dig out my self but was struggling to figure out how to enter the house . I did an exploratory hole to find our lead pipe and like in your situation entry to the house is more like 350 mm not 750 as guidance suggests. I see now how to get round that with the ducting and insulation so thank you for that. Just need to hope I can get a plumber to do the final internal connection once I've done all the hard and dirty work. Cheers.
I had to do all that on Boxing Day 2009 after a major burst, mattock and pick axe through topsoil and clay then like an archaeologist with trowel and other small implements as was situated between water, sewer and electric mains lines. Had to get water from neighbours to boil in kettle to be able to fit pipe inserts and connectors to connect to water board's street stopcock. This was through one of the coldest winters for years. My pipe run was 22m from street to back if house then 17m to back door where access point in foundations was. Took 3 days as had to do my neighbour's as well as we had shared supply. It was a metal pipe originally thankfully not lead. Saved at least a couple of thousand doing it myself for cost of 50m of mdpe pipe and inserts and connectors. You really have to work like the time team scraping carefully away when working near services as a wrong move could be fatal. If it hadn't been an emergency job I would have done a lot of the things you've done but I didn't just dug, laid pipe, connected and buried. But no problems with it since. God forbid I've ever got to deal with this again I"ll do it more like your approach having seen this video as with all these videos of yours. My old approach was get stuff done, in and cheaply.
Really enjoying the videos, keep them coming. Regarding the 32mm, as you found at the end, yes it would help with flow rate, forgot the calculations since I was looking at similar question, but in short even with reduced points at valve etc or the short 25mm length at street the length of 32mm offers increased flow relative to friction etc with pipe volume/cross section area on 25 vs 32mm being alot more than just the 28% increase of 7mm in diameter, area of 25mm aprox 490mm2 increases to aprox 804mm2 on 32mm pipe - 65% increase. When I researched it it all gets very complicated with so many factors: pipe diameter, length, water pressure etc all being relative in order to workout a flow rate estimate. Like you and others have said, for the minimal price difference, why wouldn't you, isn't going to do any harm and can then take advantage if/when at some point the main in the street is replaced for newer/larger pipe.
Yes add a reducing valve. I had a house with high pressure, I had water hammer and had to change tap washers constantly, fitted a reducer and fixed all my issues.
I do these water installs (moling) on a daily basis, although I could see a few things you could improve on, I can appreciate the effort and thought you’ve put into this! Well done! Btw the “spigot” you was referring to is called a “ferrule” a ferrule is drill and tapped under pressure into a cast iron main! Very interesting to deal with if they go wrong :-) Enjoyable video to watch and Good luck
What a lovely neat trench! Ever tried a mattock for this type of digging? I had to dig 2 meter deep footings in clay and a mattock was great for loosening it up before shovelling it out. Need to be careful around fragile clay pipes though😁. That pipe was handy for pinching the MDPE in place. At least now you can run a hot bath in less than a minute and at 4 bar your shower will be nearly as good as a pressure washer😂😂
The washers on my taps went after only a few years in a new build house. Plumber told me the mains pressure too high. Fitted a reducer to save the faucets and damage to the dishwasher and everything else connected to the water supply.
Mate, you take DIY to the next level. Your determination, skill level and attitude to hard work is second to none. Excellent content. I stumbled across one of your vids on this project where you were about half way through. It was so interesting I searched for the first one and I am religiously working my way through them.
Hi, stumbled into your channel by accident and I love it. Especially because of the pace in your recording and how you asking us for our thoughts. It’s I while you posted this video but this are my thoughts: What about conduits for fiber to the home? LAN wiring to every room and roof mounted WiFi access points? Wiring for future charging of EV? Thank you for your excellent videos! Bjarne Fosså
For anyone else contemplating doing the same work, it is worth knowing that you can get a Surestop Stopcock for 25mm MDPE pipe. I'd fit one of those after the style of Stopcock that Andy shows in the video just for the convenience of being able to turn the water off using the Surestop remote switch.
@@juyhfrty Surestop Stopcock,awful thing,had one that didn't do it's job some years ago, so I don't trust them,might be better now,as to stopcock, I used a quarter turn metal full bore lever valve.
I admire your work ethic and attention to detail, I would have no hesitation in hiring you to do work in my home. I also enjoy the videos and look forward to viewing your progress.Cheers 🍺
Great job and great video, enjoyed the longer format. On the back filling I would have put in the plastic water warning tape, like the electric board looks to have done on the electric cable. It is very cheap to buy a roll though too late now I guess. Alternatively, some of the empty plastic sand bags would help with a warning that something is below and perhaps a line of bricks along the length of the pipe. The wood is likely to for away to nothing in time. Really enjoyed that video!
@@loritanner4478 Just watched it back and I couldn't see any warning tape on the water pipe and non was mentioned or shown when looking at the items purchased. Just looks to me like the few bricks over the sewage pipe and strips of wood the length of the water pipe, suspect that will be rotten fairly quickly. You can see the tape from the electric board after they have done their work at 37:38 in the video.
@@loritanner4478 If you look at 23:08 and the position of the water pipe and the electric cable, it is clear the tape at 37:38 is over the electric cable, also you can see the wooden stick in the water trench sticking out to the side of the tape and the red warning paint to the left where the tape/electric cable run. Water tape is blue normally.
Cheers! Yeah, I looked for the blue tape but nowhere had any in stock. Not too bothered as water is below everything and it's pretty obvious where it runs (straight line from stopcock to stopcock). Yup, the yellow tape was for electric. 👍
I’m about to add a water supply to my garage. Thanks for this. Ideal for me as I’m in Wallsend and obviously Northumbrian Water so I can follow your planning to comply to their regs.
Old lead mains mostly used to follow the drains into the house as they only had to dig the 1 trench if you have a genny for your locator you can clip onto it
I watched you digging yer ‘ole with more than a tad of ‘trench envy’. I recently had to trench 25 metres down to 700mm for an SWA cable, I live in the South coast in an area of heavy clay and flint. My spade lifted the top 50mm off easy peasy, then it was time for a collection of tools, sweat and perseverance. The first 2 metres took me a whole day and was achieved using a metre long bolster chisel and a 3.5 Kg maul. After a week and 10 metres of backbreaking work, I bought an SDS (mains powered) with non rotating hammer action and completed the final 15 metres in 3 days. Worst digging job of my life - the flint is a killer. Anyhoo - would the water board not make a 32 mm connection into the mains? Good work Andy.👍😀
Pressure regulator is only needed if the water pressure is expected to exceed the capacity of the system like for instance on RV motor homes when they hook up to campground water systems because I have seen some campgrounds can have pressure up to 80 psi.
This video was really helpful and informative for the most part, but just a fair warning to others that the depth it enters your property needs to be 750 deep also, so you will end up having to run it under the foundations, not on top of them as shown in this video. Just repeating what I was told by the NWL inspector for the new supply that I ran. Other than that everything else was OK!
Surprised he passed inspection with the way his ducting entered the house above the 750mm guideline but maybe his trench inspector was feeling generous that day and threwaway the regs book. I also had to dig under the foundations, which tbh was easier core drilling through clay than brickwork.
On the question of water flow and pipe size. The larger pipe will improve the pressure somewhat even when fed through smaller diameter stops. The improvement will be noticed more when using high flow appliances (garden hose, filling a tub) or when using multiple appliances at once. The pressure in low flow situations will not be much different. The reason for this is: the cross sectional area inside the 32mm pipe is 62% greater than the 25mm pipe. This translates to the volume of water needed to supply any appliance having to travel at a lesser speed through the larger pipe. The faster the water must travel the greater the friction loss = less pressure at the end of the line. At some point in increasing size the improvement will be negligible (diminishing returns) ie: the improvement from 25 to 32 would be more noticeable than the improvement from 32 to 50 is a single family home. (unless the distance from the main to the home is very long) Having the smaller stop at the main hampers the benefit of the 32mm pipe, but only to a small degree or only when higher flows are needed. There are three main terms/ideas in the US for water pressure; static, flowing, and residual. Static is when no water is flowing, the pressure will be the same throughout the home when static, regardless of pipe diameter. Flowing is the pressure at the nozzle or outlet, and residual is the pressure that remains in the pipe available to supply additional demands for water, while water is already being used. With smaller pipes a diminishment in flow will be more noticeable when a second or third tap is opened than with larger pipes (flushing a toilet for instance). UK terms could be different. I think you made the right choice in going with the 32mm. Interesting series of videos, I am enjoying them. PS: There is a metallic film, which comes in rolls available, which can be buried in the trench with plastic pipe to make the pipe detectable with electronic tools. I have also seen small diameter copper wire placed in the trench to help with detection.
4 Bar is roughly 58psi over here. That would be a great pressure for typical household. Over in north America anyway. Typical is 45-60psi so I would imagine most modern fixtures would handle it well. Pluse there will be loss for runs through the house and up to the second floor. But I'm no plumber, so I could be really wrong! Good, thorough video!
You are right Rob, and the loss for rise is apx 1/2 psi per foot. The loss for horizontal runs come from friction while the water is flowing. When the water is static the pressure will be the same throughout at any given elevation.
Great video. Be careful with your choice of pressure reducing valve. Get a full bore one. We had a flow problem and finally solved it when I removed the 22mm pressure reducing valve. The internal bore was 6mm !!!!!
With the 32mm MDPE pipe and connecting to the internal plumbing they do a 32mm to BSP fitting (1" or 3/4) which can then have standard plumbing parts attached which save a lot of money for the multiple size converters... (as I found after paying for the multiple parts)
That was very interesting I admire the effort required to dig the trench. Well done for that. In the last shots it looked like the electrical supply work had also been done. Looking forward to the video about that. I think that most cistern float valves (for the toilets) are rated at 3 bar so I would definitely recommend install a pressure reduction valve.
It is actually not a top tee. A top tee is used on MDPE pipe which is generally fusion welded. The cast main is tapped under pressure and the fitting used is a ferrule.
Yep fit a pressure reducing valve for anything thats suppling a rapid shut off like your washing machine or you’ll get very strong water hammer which will bang around your pipes.
Good video something I'm doing next month our new house we are renovation needs a new water main but I'm getting a trenching machine to do the trench - not hand digging 150m to 900mm trench!!
Great video! 👍🏾 A fascinating watch! Now I'm jealous of your new water rate and annoyed at my house's original builders. Last year Thames Water came out to fix a leaky stop cock at the property boundary. At the same time they offered to replace the old lead pipe supply with a new pipe like yours for free. Get in I thought! Alas it was not to be :( The engineers could not find the damn pipe route. I think the pipe is buried so far underground, to unearth it, I would need to not only dig up my driveway but also dig up my living room and kitchen too!
A pressure regulator is not really needed at 4 bar static pressure. I get 9 bar static pressure from my mains connection, I have a regulator set at 3.5 bars behind, but made a 22mm pipe for a 3/4" garden hose which branches off before the regulator. That thing is suitable as a fire hose, as it drops water at least 30ft away.
Good job buddy. You are lucky, were we are you have to enter the property in a duct at the 750mm depth . You can't raise the level as you come into the house
Brilliant flow rate, pressure OK. I have 5 bar off my lead to 15mm plastic supply, but only have a flow rate of 15 ltr per hour so very envious of yours.
Hi Andy, I have just replaced my lead water pipe in my own, which I wouldn’t have done if you hadn’t have made this video. My landscaper friend lent me 2 of his guys to dig the 7m x 800mm trench which toolk a day (it would have taken me a week!) I planned the connection/feed, bought the ducting, insulation, mdpe push fit bits, laid it in a Saturday afternoon and had it signed off yesterday. Water board said it was better than what most plumbers do! Cheers mate, love the channel!
That trench you dug was amazing--literally chiseled! So impressed that you are trying to the best of your ability to make any problems easier to deal with for future residents!
Cheers - always thinking of long-term maintenance. 👍
Admire your persistence in digging the tranche in such a weather 👍🏻 You are a man! and really liked your gentle reminders for the future residents! Well done!
Thank you and I'll check out your channel - looks interesting! 👍👍
@@GosforthHandyman awww... thank you :-) we will fight similar fights on our farm 😁
More power to you. Know now I'll never tackle such a job. Can easily imagine someone selling rather than doing what you 've just accomplished. Youth, determination and knowledge are immense assets.
Thank you! 👍
As a builder it's great to see other trades doing a quality job. Top video. 👍
Yes, a reducing valve is a must to 3 bar. Just to save to pipework in the house from damaged.
I have almost 6 bars of pressure in my house. No problems as long as I lived here.
@@aleksanderk359 it’s great if you haven’t had an issue but the thing is it just increases the likelihood and also if pipes ever gets thin, it could create a problem
Digging that trench you must've been sweating like a Geordie in a spelling test.
I was lathered and it was minus 5.
Impudence!! Hahaha xx
Sweating like Joey Essex on Countdown!
@@Oldgamingfart Good one. Sweating like Fred West watching Ground Force.
@@njuham lol almost spat my tea out!
It kills me to see a man with your skills and talents spending hours digging a ditch. But I suspect that you found it somewhat satisfying, it was done exactly the way you wanted it done, and it saved you money. The aching back was worth it!
Thanks Bob! Very kind. It's good exercise - good for the soul to do some digging now and then. 😁👍
Didn't think I was going to be interested in this, Andy, but I was enthralled from beginning to end. Well done for the hard labour.
Thank you and glad you enjoyed it! 👍👍
Hi Andy. The fixture that attaches your supply to the main is called a tapping ferrule. I would also suggest that a reducing valve would be a good idea...3 bar pressure wouldn't do your boiler and fittings a lot of good
Love the little touches to protect the pipe! Great to see a handyman figure out all that is needed!
Fit a PRV and set it to 3 bar as you have plenty of flow, they lag (catch up) a bit with lower flow rates, don’t set above 4 bar. Night static pressure increase with that flow rate could cause problems. Also you will probably void your boiler warranty, boiler maintenance contract and poss cause probs with showers, white goods etc. About £30 and easy to fit. You will lose some flow rate when the tap is opened however. Remember, flow rate and pressure are two different things, often confused. The pressure will ALWAYS equalise, no matter how small the pipe, it will just take longer to do so in a smaller, lower flow rate pipe.
I remember when we moved into our house many years ago and my poor hubby had to crawl from one end of the house to the other under the floor to connect our piping to the outside supply, all I can say is my heart was in my mouth with fear as I hate confined spaces
Oh yes, been there. Not fun! 👍
Another big reason to fit the water pipe in a duct at the point it enters the property is that in the event of a leak from the pipe, the leak won't wash away soil from around your foundations leading to subsidence.
Never knew that, thanks
I did that over 30 years ago with a 3 inch duct, never understood plumbers mindsets in the UK!
Brilliant. Thanks. Did this a few years ago. Didn't know the regs for our area but, apart from insulation in the 110mm pipe that holds the water pipe, complied with all you've said and passed by water board who had to dig up street to replace lead pipe to the property. Also had to do an undercut in clay at edge of property. Water pipe inside 110mm soil pipe all the way from edge of property water meter into house. Water board impressed. Filled trench with pea shingle. I put a large trap door under mat inside front door so we even comply with stopcock where pipe enters house. Water flow massively increased. Digging trench down to the original lead pipe in dry, heavy London clay was hard work. Osteopath made a few £s and massive heart attack two years later with 3 resuscitations directly above the new pipe in April 2020. All good fun!
Oh wow! Hope you're OK now! Dry clay is a nightmare to dig - like concrete. Glad this was wet. 👍
I wish all builders worked as neat and tidily as you do. You are so organised. In our last house extension, they totally destroyed our front garden, rather than use a bit of planning.
Thank you! A bit of planning up-front can save a lot of stress in the long term. Hope you got sorted! 👍😁
That would be a plumbing ferrule tapping in to the water main Andy.
You star - that's the one! 👍
Fascinated by your videos and have gained loads of tips watching them. Used to work for my local water authority back in the day, and i seem to recall the what you call spigot is called a ferrule, a banjo fits over that that connects to the communication pipe, the pipe that feeds to property.
Every day is a learn something new day now that I'm watching your vids, and your choice of music is truly awesome. Wish you'd give the tracks a mention :)
I had my old lead pipe replaced last year in 32 mm plastic. I used a moling company so they took up some block paving near the stop valve and as the water runs into the garage a small hole where the supply terminated. it saved digging up the drive and garage floor. I arranged the pipework so that the 32mm incoming supply split off between downstairs and upstairs right at that point to maximise flow. The only exception was the flow to the boiler which obviously does both floors. There is virtually no difference in actual flow rate of a single tap as I checked before and after but the starvation when 2 taps are being used has vastly reduced. Wasn't cheap but all done in a day.
Great vid yet again. I'm loving this series. Not sure I'd have the energy to keep up by doing anything similar 😁. Regarding the pipe diameter, I would say you have definitely made the right choice. Flow rate losses are proportional to pipe diameter as well as pipe length so whenever you can increase diameter or reduce pipe length you're onto a winner due to less friction in the water flow regardless of what the supply diameter was. That's my understanding anyway but happy to learn from any fluid mechanics professor who disagrees 👍🤔
Cheers and your flow rate stuff makes sense 👍
The backfilling was half River Dance half trench foot 😀 The channel has come a long way since Test Tuesday etc.it’s moved in a different direction but is the top of its game. The series has been excellent so far and lot’s still to come I’m sure👍 thank you
I’ve got to do this Andy , so I’m watching your video again to get extra knowledge. Your videos are fantastic, thank you 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
You do get extra pressure installing the 32mm as i had a 3 storey building plus a cellar. The top floor always had less pressure. We replaced the 15mm water pipes in the cellar to 32mm and that increased the water pressure to the top floor.
Pushing water vertically costs approximately 1/2 psi per foot, regardless of pipe size. Your pressure increase is the result of reduced friction inside the pipe while the water is flowing. When the water is static the pressure equalizes throughout the system, but will be 1/2 psi lower for each foot of elevation, so 30 feet = about 15 psi. If you have low pressure at the entry point in your building, the drop caused by elevation will be much more noticeable. If I did the calculation correctly 1/2psi =0.03447378 bar, and 15 psi equals about 1 bar. A significant number. 15 mm sounds undersized for anything but the supply line to one or two appliances. I am not surprised you got a significant improvement improvement. The only downside to larger pipes is perhaps cost, and, on the hot water side, a longer time to get the hot water to the outlet due to the larger volume stored in the pipe, which results in more water wasted. In the US the usual pipe sizes are 1/2", 3/4" and 1' inside diameter (not outside) for single family homes.
Lead replacement is free in the UK. Just ring your water company and they will arrange lead replacement from out in the road into the house with a new stop cock in the house. Lead beyond the stopcock within the house is the owners responsibility.
Hello does that include Yorkshire water... We are thinking of having our lead pipes replaced...
The stopcock in our house is in the cellar so we'll they replace all the lead pipe up until that point?
Those MDPE speed fit fittings are good. I would recommend putting in a 22mm full bore leaver valve in as well. Did mine about 5 years ago but trench only 2.5m long!
Nice one Andy, I wish we had done a flow test on our bungalow. Contractors had a tunnelling contraption to save all the digging, and they installed a insulated cover for the last part where it came into our bathroom and joined to our pipework.. We did notice a massive improvement and we are not on a party line with next door now. They charged us £1400 inc VAT so you did good, even if it was bloody hard work for you... Cheers Paul
Great job Andy. I have to do the same at our house one day. I think our lead pipe is leaking somewhere?
Only thing I'd say is if above the trench is always going to remain lawn or border it's fine how you've done it. Doesn't matter how much you've walked on it, it will still sink a bit. If you want to extend the drive over it you would have been better with clean gravel in the bottom, then a layer of broken slabs and bricks etc to spread load, then MOT for the top 6-8 inches compacted in two inch increments.
I've done this for a customer in the past.
Laying in some Caution tape a few hundred mils above the pipe or line is a good warning to future diggers. Simple and doesn't affect settling.
Nowhere local had the blue stuff in stock - annoyingly. But it's pretty obvious where it is so not too bothered. 👍
@@GosforthHandyman Electrical warning tape would serve the ‘proceed with caution’ purpose. I have about 20 metres spare in my garage - did out the trench again and I will post it to you.😉
What a slog job, but it’s done and confidence is high. Very good of you to give the hat tip to the water board guys who braved the sub zero to get you hooked up. Not many TH-camrs would do it.
The water guys more than deserved it - top blokes and didn't complain once. They had to wait around for ages for the switchover too as they had to notify all the neighbours first. 👍👍
further to my last comment, just had Northumbrian Water out to ensure I was doing the right thing in copying your ducting and insulation to be told no way would they pass it. Just pleased I got guidance before doing all that pipework and insulation.
what changes did they say you need to make?
I’m currently digging out 1m to 1.4m high garden back from the rear of the house to create some space. The back garden is about 7.2m across.
It’s all been done with a pickaxe and shovel, and the slicing trick very rarely works on the clay as my soil is absolutely brimming with natural stone.
So it’s been an arduous loosening it all with the pick, taking out the stone for some nice wall projects, and barrowing the loose soil to the front for grab hire.
I’ve dug out 24 tonne so far and lost 3 stone in the process. Back breaking indeed!
Fit a prv at 3 to 4 bar to balance the system, most shower valves are rated to a max pressure of 5 bar. Pressure can increase by as much as 50 percent at night meaning your fittings will be under 6 bar static. The prv will not reduce flow rate noticeable so you can have multiple taps and showers running at the same time without any issues.
Sounds sensible 👍👍
Andy, hats off to you (again). You are such an inspiration to us all. If everyone took as much care doing things as you did, we'd all have better and safe homes to live in. And your work ethic is great. I think youngsters should watch all your vids and learn a few skills, other than video-gaming :-) (my kids included)...
PS: I noticed you have a jar of Douwe Egberts coffee there...absolute beautiful coffee that is :-)
Thank you! Gotta love DE coffee - best instant out there 👍
We had a pressure of 6bar under general day conditions and after 4 years of regularly replacing seals and washers because of leaky taps etc we fitted a pressure reducer down to 3 bar result bloody brilliant ! .
Wow - 6 bar is huge! Defo think the PRV is the way to go. 👍
@@GosforthHandyman most plastic water fitting seals are rated for a continual use of 7 bar ,yes our water pressure is high our small estate is at the bottom of a long steep incline and guess see the water mains is ! ! ?
Dig the ditch manually and avoid digging up the wrong things. However watching someone dig a ditch is so much easier than doing it myself (:-)
Watching people do manual labour used to be my job. I even got a qualification for it (not a joke).
The funny thing I found when replacing my pipe. Like you trench dug, sand bedding down pipe laid, I had to have that stage inspected also. But when connecting my new supply the supply company used a mole and just dragged the mdpe pipe through the soil no sand no sieving the back fill, but I guess they have to dig it up if it leaks!!
Perfect timing, we're having this done this week👍🏼
Gotta say, I didn't have the same energy (or passion?) like you for digging so it was a very complicated affair with plumbers etc but we got there all WIAPS approved. Water flow and pressure are fab, real world problem now if having to constantly change into a new T Shirt each time I use the kitchen sink as I'm so used to opening the tap to full !!
Great timing Andy. I bought a slow-burning renovation project 7 years ago and have always had in mind to do exactly this job. We're now thinking of building a porch which would go over where the lead water pipe comes into the house, so it's the ideal time to think seriously about replacing the water supply (and re-routing the pipe in the process). I will probably do exactly what you've done with 32mm pipe from the stopcock to the house.
See what your current flow rate and pressure is like but defo worth it 👍
I vaguely remember accompanying my Dad as he replaced the lead pipe to my Gran's house in Cornwall. Hacking a new trench through the 'Blue Elvan', the local name given by tin miners to the hard metamorphic rock, was worse than digging out the old lead. (Granite is softer!) It came across 30° slope to a near vertical rock face before entering the kitchen. Not sure about trench inspections but I think I was 10 or so. I think the lead pipe was nearer the surface, and got in the way of Dad's new vegetable patch plans. Your's is a very neat job in comparison. 👍
Great Video as always Andy! Had to smile at your outro of the dripping tap - the job never ends eh!? Or perhaps that was meant as a clue to your pop quiz re: pressure reducing valve? Really appreciate your approach to TH-cam and the content you provide - hopefully it’s as worthwhile to you as it is to us your grateful students.
Great vlog, credit to your profession. I had to smile at your attempt at Breton dancing as you back filled!
Thank you - I'll keep up with the dancing practice 😉
Yes, fit a Pressure Reducing Valve, ideally an adjustable one. We had continual reoccurring overflow leaks from our mains pressure hot water tank until we got one installed.
i've got one that's set to about 2 bar
Sounds like a plan! 👍
I agree, saves on water device rubber washers as well.
I did the same but down in severn trent West Midlands a few years ago. Had to duct it under a sewer pipe and keep it 300mm away from other services. The house is a 1950s with shallow rebar reinforced foundations about 550mm deep. Dug under them and followed the old lead pipe. Used a core drill to drill through the kitchen concrete slab. It all cost about 200 - 300 quid. Companies wanted over £1,000. Flow is so much better, it doubled i think.
Felt so sorry for those water board guys working in such freezing 🥶 conditions.
Yeah, hats off to them. It was so cold everything kept freezing but they didn't complain once. Really nice people. It's nice to be nice. 👍😁
PRV is absolute 'yes'. I just had to fit one as boiler kept leaking and British Gas Homecare refused to support/fix the boiler due to mains pressure being too high. My flow rate has dropped a lot, but that could have been the lead-copper conversion I did at the same time (used Philmac UTC - awesome bit of kit!).
Anyhow, loving this series. Keep the visa coming
Cheers! Interesting - I need to do a bit more homework 👍
Any increase in diameter at any point can only increase the flow at the outlet despite any restrictions anywhere else, because of reducing the frictional losses of the insides of the pipe, that's why fire engines tend to twin the hydrant supply's if they need that flow to be at the Max
About to start the process of digging my own trench to change over the mains pipe work but I work as a plumber so that’s my only advantage but still interesting to watch someone else do the process
The job I didn't know I wanted to do. Thanks for the inspiration. My water service pipe goes all the way from the front to back of my house diagonally through the basement before a stopcock!
It's defo worthwhile. Carefully plan the route, bear in mind the new stopcock doesn't need to go where the old stopcock was. Look in to having it moled if possible. 👍
@@GosforthHandyman Well worth replacing old main, & +1 for moling,can save you alot of digging..Good moling link here: th-cam.com/video/E-rehFGvP5s/w-d-xo.html
Happy to see that the lead pipe is history. Your water is now drinkable.
......and for everyone else who’s drinking water from lead pipes “you are doomed” lol but seriously I paid £550 to have this job done six years ago and this was in the northeast.
Lead supply doesn't effect the safety of the water
Lead is a neurotoxin which is particularly dangerous to the brain development of young children. Because of this, installation of lead pipes and plumbing fixtures containing lead has been banned in drinking water piping in the UK for more than 50 years. Similarly, lead has been banned from use in paint, in petrol and from other products to protect against lead exposure.
People who drink water from old lead pipes are depending on an undisturbed layer of corrosion in the pipes to protect them from lead leaching into the water. If you think that is enough protection for your children, then I guess you can be happy with lead pipe.
And the word you are looking for is "affect", not "effect".
Defo Allen - at best lead poisoning can cause irritability and mad mood swings, at worst it can cause brain damage and developmental issues. Not something I want for our family. 👍
Andy, No requirement to fit a prv. 4 Bar is a general base line pressure within a distribution network. The speedfit fittings are tested to 12 bar.
What a job in such dreadful weather, well done. Albeit the soil pipe/ porch entanglement looks a tadge scary. And...good ol' Northumbrian Water eh!
Cheers and yes, hats of to Northumbrian Water. Lot of folk are furloughed while they're working in muddy ditches at -5C in a blizzard. Good on them. 👍
Really informative video. my 1930's semi needs exactly some thing doing, i also had a leak in elbow on sewer pipe their was 3 different pipe sizes cast iron drain pipe to plastic elbow to clay sewer pipe. Enjoyable when you have a go sorting problems yourself.
liked and subscribed.
Very useful. We’ve got a leak somewhere in the existing ancient water line in. So going to have to consider doing this.
Scared about finding electric /sewage lines in my dig. Such and old house with no plans. I have no idea where it all is under ground.
Yep to PRV.. 100%. It protects boiler, protects your pipe work etc (especially with the push-fit generation).
It’s great to have high pressure, but with spikes in the PM/early hours (sometimes can be +6bar), could do some damage.
I always like to see prv with a strainer and double check, belt and braces.
Sounds sensible 👍
You will also find that manifold plumbing systems will result in better water flow to plumbing fixtures as opposed to the traditional trunk and branch systems found in most U.K. properties. Not always easy to retrofit but if you’re ripping everything out and starting again - definitely recommended
Great vid and just what I needed to see. My plumber is mega busy and wasn't interested in the slightest in doing a replacement for me and certainly not any digging. Having checked with Northumbrian Water I've decided to dig out my self but was struggling to figure out how to enter the house . I did an exploratory hole to find our lead pipe and like in your situation entry to the house is more like 350 mm not 750 as guidance suggests.
I see now how to get round that with the ducting and insulation so thank you for that. Just need to hope I can get a plumber to do the final internal connection once I've done all the hard and dirty work. Cheers.
I had to do all that on Boxing Day 2009 after a major burst, mattock and pick axe through topsoil and clay then like an archaeologist with trowel and other small implements as was situated between water, sewer and electric mains lines. Had to get water from neighbours to boil in kettle to be able to fit pipe inserts and connectors to connect to water board's street stopcock. This was through one of the coldest winters for years. My pipe run was 22m from street to back if house then 17m to back door where access point in foundations was. Took 3 days as had to do my neighbour's as well as we had shared supply.
It was a metal pipe originally thankfully not lead. Saved at least a couple of thousand doing it myself for cost of 50m of mdpe pipe and inserts and connectors.
You really have to work like the time team scraping carefully away when working near services as a wrong move could be fatal. If it hadn't been an emergency job I would have done a lot of the things you've done but I didn't just dug, laid pipe, connected and buried. But no problems with it since. God forbid I've ever got to deal with this again I"ll do it more like your approach having seen this video as with all these videos of yours. My old approach was get stuff done, in and cheaply.
Really enjoying the videos, keep them coming.
Regarding the 32mm, as you found at the end, yes it would help with flow rate, forgot the calculations since I was looking at similar question, but in short even with reduced points at valve etc or the short 25mm length at street the length of 32mm offers increased flow relative to friction etc with pipe volume/cross section area on 25 vs 32mm being alot more than just the 28% increase of 7mm in diameter, area of 25mm aprox 490mm2 increases to aprox 804mm2 on 32mm pipe - 65% increase.
When I researched it it all gets very complicated with so many factors: pipe diameter, length, water pressure etc all being relative in order to workout a flow rate estimate.
Like you and others have said, for the minimal price difference, why wouldn't you, isn't going to do any harm and can then take advantage if/when at some point the main in the street is replaced for newer/larger pipe.
All makes sense - cheers for the info! 👍
Yes I agree!!
Yes add a reducing valve. I had a house with high pressure, I had water hammer and had to change tap washers constantly, fitted a reducer and fixed all my issues.
I do these water installs (moling) on a daily basis, although I could see a few things you could improve on, I can appreciate the effort and thought you’ve put into this! Well done!
Btw the “spigot” you was referring to is called a “ferrule” a ferrule is drill and tapped under pressure into a cast iron main! Very interesting to deal with if they go wrong :-)
Enjoyable video to watch and Good luck
What a lovely neat trench! Ever tried a mattock for this type of digging? I had to dig 2 meter deep footings in clay and a mattock was great for loosening it up before shovelling it out. Need to be careful around fragile clay pipes though😁. That pipe was handy for pinching the MDPE in place. At least now you can run a hot bath in less than a minute and at 4 bar your shower will be nearly as good as a pressure washer😂😂
The washers on my taps went after only a few years in a new build house. Plumber told me the mains pressure too high. Fitted a reducer to save the faucets and damage to the dishwasher and everything else connected to the water supply.
Congratulations on getting to 148,000 subscribers and well done for all your hard work on the house so fair and the doing the videos as well
Mate, you take DIY to the next level. Your determination, skill level and attitude to hard work is second to none. Excellent content.
I stumbled across one of your vids on this project where you were about half way through. It was so interesting I searched for the first one and I am religiously working my way through them.
Hi, stumbled into your channel by accident and I love it. Especially because of the pace in your recording and how you asking us for our thoughts. It’s I while you posted this video but this are my thoughts:
What about conduits for fiber to the home?
LAN wiring to every room and roof mounted WiFi access points?
Wiring for future charging of EV?
Thank you for your excellent videos!
Bjarne Fosså
Welcome! Fibre comes in a different route, all rooms flood wired with Cat6. EV charge point to come. 👍
For anyone else contemplating doing the same work, it is worth knowing that you can get a Surestop Stopcock for 25mm MDPE pipe. I'd fit one of those after the style of Stopcock that Andy shows in the video just for the convenience of being able to turn the water off using the Surestop remote switch.
In ones own house, Always fit one of those in addition and after a’normal’ stop cock.
Defo an option! Although those JG plastic stop cocks are very easy to turn. 👍
@@juyhfrty Surestop Stopcock,awful thing,had one that didn't do it's job some years ago, so I don't trust them,might be better now,as to stopcock, I used a quarter turn metal full bore lever valve.
I admire your work ethic and attention to detail, I would have no hesitation in hiring you to do work in my home. I also enjoy the videos and look forward to viewing your progress.Cheers 🍺
Thanks for the kind words! 👍👍
Great job and great video, enjoyed the longer format. On the back filling I would have put in the plastic water warning tape, like the electric board looks to have done on the electric cable. It is very cheap to buy a roll though too late now I guess. Alternatively, some of the empty plastic sand bags would help with a warning that something is below and perhaps a line of bricks along the length of the pipe. The wood is likely to for away to nothing in time. Really enjoyed that video!
It looked like he did put a warning tape over the water pipe after he filled the trench a bit. Then filled it the rest of the way.
@@loritanner4478 Just watched it back and I couldn't see any warning tape on the water pipe and non was mentioned or shown when looking at the items purchased. Just looks to me like the few bricks over the sewage pipe and strips of wood the length of the water pipe, suspect that will be rotten fairly quickly. You can see the tape from the electric board after they have done their work at 37:38 in the video.
That looked right over the pipe he put into the trench. So you would be careful digging when you came to that.
@@loritanner4478 If you look at 23:08 and the position of the water pipe and the electric cable, it is clear the tape at 37:38 is over the electric cable, also you can see the wooden stick in the water trench sticking out to the side of the tape and the red warning paint to the left where the tape/electric cable run. Water tape is blue normally.
Cheers! Yeah, I looked for the blue tape but nowhere had any in stock. Not too bothered as water is below everything and it's pretty obvious where it runs (straight line from stopcock to stopcock). Yup, the yellow tape was for electric. 👍
This is my new favourite channel.
An absolutely brilliant job.
Cheers bud! 👍
I’m about to add a water supply to my garage. Thanks for this. Ideal for me as I’m in Wallsend and obviously Northumbrian Water so I can follow your planning to comply to their regs.
Wow, big improvement in flow. I'd be tempted to do the drain work; as you said, better in the long term.
Yup, it's done - vid coming soon. 😁
Digging that out must have been hard work
Old lead mains mostly used to follow the drains into the house as they only had to dig the 1 trench if you have a genny for your locator you can clip onto it
I watched you digging yer ‘ole with more than a tad of ‘trench envy’. I recently had to trench 25 metres down to 700mm for an SWA cable, I live in the South coast in an area of heavy clay and flint. My spade lifted the top 50mm off easy peasy, then it was time for a collection of tools, sweat and perseverance. The first 2 metres took me a whole day and was achieved using a metre long bolster chisel and a 3.5 Kg maul. After a week and 10 metres of backbreaking work, I bought an SDS (mains powered) with non rotating hammer action and completed the final 15 metres in 3 days. Worst digging job of my life - the flint is a killer.
Anyhoo - would the water board not make a 32 mm connection into the mains?
Good work Andy.👍😀
Pressure regulator is only needed if the water pressure is expected to exceed the capacity of the system like for instance on RV motor homes when they hook up to campground water systems because I have seen some campgrounds can have pressure up to 80 psi.
This video was really helpful and informative for the most part, but just a fair warning to others that the depth it enters your property needs to be 750 deep also, so you will end up having to run it under the foundations, not on top of them as shown in this video. Just repeating what I was told by the NWL inspector for the new supply that I ran. Other than that everything else was OK!
Surprised he passed inspection with the way his ducting entered the house above the 750mm guideline but maybe his trench inspector was feeling generous that day and threwaway the regs book. I also had to dig under the foundations, which tbh was easier core drilling through clay than brickwork.
On the question of water flow and pipe size. The larger pipe will improve the pressure somewhat even when fed through smaller diameter stops. The improvement will be noticed more when using high flow appliances (garden hose, filling a tub) or when using multiple appliances at once. The pressure in low flow situations will not be much different. The reason for this is: the cross sectional area inside the 32mm pipe is 62% greater than the 25mm pipe. This translates to the volume of water needed to supply any appliance having to travel at a lesser speed through the larger pipe. The faster the water must travel the greater the friction loss = less pressure at the end of the line. At some point in increasing size the improvement will be negligible (diminishing returns) ie: the improvement from 25 to 32 would be more noticeable than the improvement from 32 to 50 is a single family home. (unless the distance from the main to the home is very long) Having the smaller stop at the main hampers the benefit of the 32mm pipe, but only to a small degree or only when higher flows are needed. There are three main terms/ideas in the US for water pressure; static, flowing, and residual. Static is when no water is flowing, the pressure will be the same throughout the home when static, regardless of pipe diameter. Flowing is the pressure at the nozzle or outlet, and residual is the pressure that remains in the pipe available to supply additional demands for water, while water is already being used. With smaller pipes a diminishment in flow will be more noticeable when a second or third tap is opened than with larger pipes (flushing a toilet for instance). UK terms could be different. I think you made the right choice in going with the 32mm. Interesting series of videos, I am enjoying them.
PS: There is a metallic film, which comes in rolls available, which can be buried in the trench with plastic pipe to make the pipe detectable with electronic tools. I have also seen small diameter copper wire placed in the trench to help with detection.
Can’t wait to see the next one Keep up the hard work and thanks for the awesome content stay safe and take care
Done this last year, Electric cables not bad, they had row of bricks layed on top, I was more worried about gas pipes but didn't come across them.
4 Bar is roughly 58psi over here. That would be a great pressure for typical household. Over in north America anyway. Typical is 45-60psi so I would imagine most modern fixtures would handle it well. Pluse there will be loss for runs through the house and up to the second floor. But I'm no plumber, so I could be really wrong! Good, thorough video!
You are right Rob, and the loss for rise is apx 1/2 psi per foot. The loss for horizontal runs come from friction while the water is flowing. When the water is static the pressure will be the same throughout at any given elevation.
Great video. Be careful with your choice of pressure reducing valve. Get a full bore one. We had a flow problem and finally solved it when I removed the 22mm pressure reducing valve. The internal bore was 6mm !!!!!
With the 32mm MDPE pipe and connecting to the internal plumbing they do a 32mm to BSP fitting (1" or 3/4) which can then have standard plumbing parts attached which save a lot of money for the multiple size converters... (as I found after paying for the multiple parts)
Brilliant vid.
Very helpful.
Thanks for documenting and posting this 👍
Hope your back isn't too badly affected Andy. Liking the highly precise depth gauge for the trench. That's a huge change in flow rate.
Cheers! Was a bit achy for a couple of days 😁
That was very interesting I admire the effort required to dig the trench. Well done for that.
In the last shots it looked like the electrical supply work had also been done. Looking forward to the video about that.
I think that most cistern float valves (for the toilets) are rated at 3 bar so I would definitely recommend install a pressure reduction valve.
Cheers Charles! Some of the electrics is sorted but not quite finished yet. 👍
It is actually not a top tee. A top tee is used on MDPE pipe which is generally fusion welded. The cast main is tapped under pressure and the fitting used is a ferrule.
Yep fit a pressure reducing valve for anything thats suppling a rapid shut off like your washing machine or you’ll get very strong water hammer which will bang around your pipes.
The water spigot is called a top tee, exactly the same way gas services are connected from mains too :) love the videos!! X
It’s a tapping ferrule, usually an elbow not a tee
Cheers folks! 👍
Good video something I'm doing next month our new house we are renovation needs a new water main but I'm getting a trenching machine to do the trench - not hand digging 150m to 900mm trench!!
Great video! 👍🏾 A fascinating watch! Now I'm jealous of your new water rate and annoyed at my house's original builders.
Last year Thames Water came out to fix a leaky stop cock at the property boundary. At the same time they offered to replace the old lead pipe supply with a new pipe like yours for free. Get in I thought! Alas it was not to be :( The engineers could not find the damn pipe route. I think the pipe is buried so far underground, to unearth it, I would need to not only dig up my driveway but also dig up my living room and kitchen too!
A pressure regulator is not really needed at 4 bar static pressure.
I get 9 bar static pressure from my mains connection, I have a regulator set at 3.5 bars behind, but made a 22mm pipe for a 3/4" garden hose which branches off before the regulator.
That thing is suitable as a fire hose, as it drops water at least 30ft away.
Instead of going under house foundations, you can use an insulated pipe casing to bring the pipe in above floor level.
WATER BOARD AROUND HERE WONT ALLOW IT
Love the way you say "hook" it's like you add loads of o's to the middle,sounds like Hoooook
Good job buddy. You are lucky, were we are you have to enter the property in a duct at the 750mm depth . You can't raise the level as you come into the house
Brilliant flow rate, pressure OK. I have 5 bar off my lead to 15mm plastic supply, but only have a flow rate of 15 ltr per hour so very envious of yours.
Cheers - 5 bar is huge though! You wouldn't need a pressure washer. 👍🤣
I have looked everywhere for the rubber stops to fit in the 110 mm soil pipe to seal the water pipe all I can find is plastic stop ends
What a top job.....well done man !
Great video. Can you run the new water supply and electricity supply through the same trench?