Water main replacement

[phester]

I am getting the driveway and groundworks done in the house and since the the existing water feed into the house is done with lead in 1928. I am eager to replace with new plastic.

However the builder is claiming that

1 it is probably buried deep and it will take more work to dig out

2 he will have to join to just after the stop cock and the led to plastic interface have a higher chance of leaking than the existing lead work

Would it be acceptable to just get him to run a pipe in situ up as far as the stopcock and if needed later the pipe is in place

 

[DavyJones]

The builder will only have to dig deep at the stop cock. You could dig a trench 18inchs and drop the plastic into it. There would be no need to take the lead pipe out of the ground.
You could connect the plastic right at the stopcock.

 

[phester]

I spoke to a plumber in the area and he says that the current led is welded to the stop cock so a connect onto the cock is not possible. It would have to be joined onto the led just after the stop cock.

The footpath to be dished does not include the Stop cock area. (its about 2 meters from the end of my dish) I wonder if the corporation will fill it in or say not my problem?

 

[DavyJones]

you could always apply for a stopcock upgrade for a fee. The council would dig from the footpath to your boundary and connect pipe and back fill. Your plumber would have to run pipe to your boundary ensuring there was enough pipe to make it to the new stop cock.