No water coming from taps

B

bubbasmama

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There is currently no water coming from our taps, it stopped this morning. At first it was just the kitchen cold tap, so I did a search on this forum and tried to hold the palm of my hand over the tap with the hot water on and the cold tap open. This did not work and now there is no water for me to try the hosepipe idea.
Any help really appreciated .
 
Do your neighbours have the same problem?

If not, and you're not using your own well, try calling the water board to see if there's a fault from the supply side.

If they insist there isn't, and you can see no evidence of road works nearby, you could check your stop-cocks, there's usually one where the water mains comes into the house and outside the gate.

ALERT.
 
Thanks, its just our house, it did happen before but then just came back on after ten mins, so I think its a problem in the house.
 
Kitchen cold tap is connected to the rising main (i.e. the direct supply from the Local Authority). This is a legal requirement. All other taps and toilets are connected to your tank.

If no water in kitchen cold tap, there is either a problem with the supply from the Local Authority or in the incoming pipe. You said that "at first it was just the kitchen cold tap" implying that forther taps are affected later. This should not happen if plumbing is correct as you should have enough for a day or more in your internal tank. Could it be that the kitchen cold tap was out for a few days before you noticed it?????
 
Thank you, as you can probably guess I do not know much about this.
The kitchen tap was working up until this afternoon, and yes it was the kitchen first , followed by the others. It must be the incoming pipe so ??
 
You're not at the top of a hill per chance? Or at the end of a row of houses? Sometimes town water pressure can be very low, I've lived in Donegal and Kildare, Donegal pressure so high special reducing valves have to be put on incoming water, .. Kildare pressure was laughable, (mainly due to the number of houses demanding water, especially first thing in the morning).
 
No hill, we are in the middle of a row of old houses 1940's , I did not realise that about the kitchen tap being attached to the main, and its very worrying that the internal tank should have a days water in it??
The shower is working by the way (upstairs)
 
Have you checked the water tank(s) in your ceiling?

Usually shower water comes from here, via a header tank, to the shower. If these tanks are not refilling then your shower, if it's electric, will burn out.
 
No, what should I be looking for in the tank?
(I have collins diy book so can see diagram of tank) Have turned off shower was just checking.
 
If you turn on any tap in the upstairs bathroom you should hear the water tank in the attic filling up.
 
alert said:
Have you checked the water tank(s) in your ceiling?
Click to expand...
Not to the kitchen cold water tap - that should be fed directly from the mains. The kitchen/bathroom hot water taps should be fed from the immersion/hot water tank. The bathroom cold water tap should be fed from the attic tank.
 
If you do not hear/see the attic water tank refilling then there's definitely a problem. You must find where the mains comes into the house, there will be a stopcock on that pipe, (usually, under the kitchen sink), ensure it is fully "open", if it is, and the stopcock outside your house, is also open then there's a supply problem.

I wouldn't use the shower or immersion until this is sorted.
 
Alert,
both stopcocks are open and my neighbour has just got in contact with Local Authority as hers has gone also. It is a supply problem.
Thank you all again.
Can I just ask though if anyone can expalin why the upstairs taps are not working ? Could it be possible that the internal tank is therefore faulty ?
 
Hi

Look no further than the cold tap in the kitchen (if normal plumbing conventions are followed). If there is no water from the tap, then no water is coming into the house. You probably noticed a delay in the water drying up at the other taps - as others have stated previously, this is because they are fed from the tank in the attic and immersion heater, which have now run out of water.

Make sure that the boiler and immersion heater are turned off - there is no water to heat and there can be serious consequences.

Has anyone been working in your house recently? As you seem to be the only house affected, has anyone been working outside of your house? The supply may have been turned off outside of your house and you will need one of those long keys to check. I can't remember what they are called.

Could someone have maliciously or accidently turned off your water supply?

Contact the water board.

SM
 
When I went out to check stop cock, my neighbours water had gone so she did get through to authority and it will be back this evening.
I just was concerned after posting with regard to the water upstairs ie from the tank ran out so suddenly and just wanted to understand how long that should be lasting even if the mains is off.
 
Fully draining the attic tank can also result in debris on the floor of the tank being drawn into the plumbing system. If the attic tank is empty or nearly empty then take this opportunity to check for any debris at the bottom, clean any out and make sure to cover the tank allowing room for any (e.g. immersion) overflow (probably the wrong term!) pipe that might feed into it. I use a sheet of polystyrene to cover ours and just cut a hole in it for the immersion overflow pipe.
 
Ok, thats great advice, will try to get up into attic and do that , we have not gone up yet, so this would be a good time to do so.

Thanks everyone again.
 
My husband did the viewings for this house, I did not see it before we moved in last November. He has seen the attic and I have seen pictures in the structural survey. Maybe I will wait for an evening he is home to go up.
 
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