Water Supply Pipe Replacement in Milton Keynes

The most common reason. Older properties frequently have narrow supply pipes, sometimes half inch, sometimes narrowed further by decades of internal deposits. That was adequate for a house with one bathroom and a gravity hot water system. It is not adequate for a modern combi feeding two showers.

The tell is that everything in the house is weak, cold as well as hot, and that it has either always been weak or has got gradually worse. Our low water pressure page covers the diagnosis.

Underground supply leaks are common and they can run for a long time before anyone notices, because the water goes into the ground rather than into your kitchen. Signs are a patch of ground or driveway that stays damp or unusually green in dry weather, a water bill that has risen without explanation, or a meter that keeps moving when everything in the house is off.

The meter test on our leak repair page tells you whether the leak is on the buried supply or inside the house.

Some older properties still have lead supply pipes. There is no useful case for keeping one. Replacement is the answer, for water quality as much as for flow and reliability.

Lead is dull grey, soft enough to mark with a coin, and sounds dull rather than ringing when tapped. If you are in older property in Stony Stratford, Newport Pagnell, Olney or the Wolverton terraces and you are unsure, it is worth identifying properly. Water companies frequently have policies about replacing their side where a customer replaces theirs, so it is worth asking Anglian Water before starting.

New builds, self builds, converted outbuildings and annexes all need a supply laid.

Moling uses a pneumatic tool to drive a new pipe underground along the route without excavating the whole length. Two small pits, one at each end, rather than a trench across your garden and driveway. Faster, cheaper to reinstate, and much less disruptive.

It is not always possible. Obstructions, certain ground conditions, existing services in the way and awkward routes can all rule it out.

Trenching is the fallback and sometimes the only option. It costs more in reinstatement than in digging, particularly across a block paved drive.

We assess the route and tell you honestly which is likely, including where a trench is unavoidable.

Modern supply pipes are blue MDPE. Buried supply pipe needs adequate cover, generally at least 750mm below finished ground level, which is deep enough to be below normal frost penetration and protected from ordinary garden activity. Where it enters the building it needs a duct and appropriate sealing.

The common upgrade is from an old narrow pipe to 25mm MDPE, which for most domestic properties is the sensible size. 32mm is worth considering for larger properties, for high simultaneous demand, or where the run is long, since a long run of smaller pipe loses more pressure.

The point worth making: it is the same job to lay a slightly larger pipe. If there is any prospect of an extension, a second bathroom or a change of hot water system in the next decade, size for that rather than for today.

Ask what is included. Making good a lawn is one thing. Making good a block paved driveway is another, and it is worth being explicit about who is responsible for it and to what standard before work starts.