RED STAG Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 Hi does anyone know if there is a regulation or minimum depth for water mains? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbell Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 I dont know but them asbestos pipes are a sod, We've had 3 now but they are not detectable so not our fault Its also worth noting they always break in 3 places Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goaty Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 My brother in law works in utilities. I've sent a text. Maybe a day or so before I get a reply. I think there is for the street main and as far as the meter then as part of the property owners responsibility, it's down to them to have it deep enough. You should only hit em with strainers really! People do mess with soil levels however and this is a big concern on pipelines. Asbestos!!! Really or are they a cement fibre type material. Your putting me off drinking water! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RED STAG Posted February 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 This was a main feed into a property next to where I was working 27 inch deep some type of grey 20mm very brittle pipe?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tepapa Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 750mm (2'6") minimum to a maximum of 1350mm unless ducted. They prefer deeper in arable fields to avoid damage by cultivation ( I think 900mm minimum) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goaty Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Around 750mm depth at least. Brother in law says. Will the brittle pipe be a supply pipe? Should we get a deep freeze will they be any good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RED STAG Posted February 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Yes the pipe is a supply pipe and what’s more runs through my customers land but is not his supply. Customer had no idea that it was there without going into to much detail I am now several hundred pounds out of pocket just on that days expenses a job on hold (one of the few I can actually get to) All because a water main was not where it’s supposed to be Non regulation depth I suspect non regulation materials never seen this type of grey pipe used on a main supply And defiantly not in the position it should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goaty Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 I remember a few years ago a stagnant spring appearing in a field on a nursery I worked on. Water authority knew they didn't have a pipe under it. Anyhow a problem occurred with sewage in the locality. I think I pointed out to the contractors about it. It was the water boards sewage! They sorted it. In this situation they should be fixing it if it's not where it should be. Hope it turns out better. A few hundred pounds for me at the moment would be overdraft territory! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frontrowfencing Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 I don't want to be the bearer of bad news and I hope I am wrong, but we have taken a couple of utilities out. One asbestos pipe, like rob says an absolute sod. I was with nfu when we hit this one, so they were very good and paid, even though I hope they disputed the bill, I was charged 1700 to fix it. We hit it with a gate post. The other was a 33kva mains high voltage. Farmer didn't know it was there, we did cat scan. To cut a long story short, we found the cable going out to the road side and then traced it to the first street light assumed it was safe and went up the road side , what we didn't realise was it came back into the field before going to next street light. Anyway the cable was in corner of field and with years of work was only about 650 down. I looked into things as much as I could to try and find a clause, but all that is stated is that the cable is down to a suitable depth for its position, this in effect meant there is no depth defined by law. Electric board were not happy with us, we ended up with 4 villages cut off for 12 hours. The bill for that was not pretty, my old insurance company sent a loss adjuster asked me hundereds of questions, think they were going to try and get out of it, but fortunately I had all the right answers. Even after several trick questions. So in short, I do not think there is a depth they need to be by law I am afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Post Driver Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 We have had the same answer with Gas pipes. No regulation depth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevew Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Just done a job, near Stanlow oil refinery the 20acre field had a water main, an aviation main fuel line a crude oil line and a gas line all running in different directions. They fly these lines with a helicopter every week to make sure no one is working above the lines. In our contract with the farmer he was responsible for informing us of buried services but true to form he didn't. We picked up on the markers in the hedgrow and rang the company that controls the area, they told us that the services should be 8 meters deep but had risen in places to less than 2. Metres. They had to be on site all the time that we were working and would only allow us install intermediates 5meters to each side of the line, they would not allow us to install any strainers, a real twitchy a***e job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevew Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 Did a domestic job in a garden lifted the paving flags and directly under the flag was a yellow gas pipe not even buried. Also hit a cast water main only 18 inches deep next to a hedge line, this happened 30 minuets after the farmer had told us it was in the next field, water board said as we were the contractor we were responsible. However the farmer did pay for the repair. It was a hell of a shower though !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charliehub Posted February 3, 2016 Report Share Posted February 3, 2016 We've done our share domestic gas pipes the most a few water mains and electric...worst being a large cable supplying and industrial estate popped a 9inch borer through it..which than took a sub station out and half a town off the electric ..luckly no one hurt and our insurance covered it . But lessons learnt always cat scan ask lots of questions and also use the devining rods they pick up most things if you believe in them ..???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
premnayloon Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Whilst draining at home the slew driver went through a power cable that supplied us bad 3 others, Having just before been on a course with the forestry commission which covered the spec of buried electric cables I have as ready for the resulting **** covering by hydro electric, One, I got the bumptious, little so and so, who was task ng great delight that in stating the four figure cost to repair the cable, to get his tape and measure how far down the cable was, 2.5 feet, Then asked him to measure how many inches of sand was above the cable, was it the statutory 6 or was the actual depth of sod all a change , Also wanted an explanation as to if the no existing sand was the reason why the yellow cable was wrapped around the cable, Upon finishing these enquiries, I then asked for the signed permission from us for them to bury that cable in our field, reminding him that should it not be forthcoming they were obliged to remove that cable, and reinstate the ground to the previous state, at their expense, After this he was not quite so arrogant and suddenly decided that they would repair the broken cable at their own expense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ringfencing Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 Rang Wessex water today to get information on water mains, they very kindly charged me £18 to email me a map when I asked how accurate the map was the answer I got was " how long is is a piece of string" what sort of f.....g answer is that. all I know is what ever happens it will be my fault and I'll have to pay .Happy fencing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDRContracting Posted February 4, 2016 Report Share Posted February 4, 2016 We've hit a few water pipes and 2 x mains cables, had to pay both repair bills on those as first one was before we used cat scan, that woke us up, now use cat scan and hit second when scanner was in for calibration and digging out old gatepost when breaker went though it as was concreted in with post at 10" depth! Now use before every job and always ask the client. Also stated in bold on our quotes is: "Underground services must be drawn to our attention, in writing, otherwise we cannot be held responsible for any damage caused. Acceptance of quotation will be taken as acceptance of these terms." This has solved most issues for us as they cannot try to wriggle out and have to repair / pay for repairs themselves. Of course we scan and try to avoid services the best we can but I got fed up with the "...oh yea I forgot that was there..." routine and then expect us to fix at our expense just because we found it on their land. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goaty Posted February 8, 2016 Report Share Posted February 8, 2016 Yes it's true an asbestos blend material is used for water pipes! They are supposed to wet it as they cut it and only use a hand saw. Allegedly the not so bad type was used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
premnayloon Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 In my old house my supply was that asbestos pipe, I was asked if I was going to replace it ,I said I would do asbestos I could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goaty Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 In my old house my supply was that asbestos pipe, I was asked if I was going to replace it ,I said I would do asbestos I could. Oh dear, shouldn't that be in the jokes thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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