Repairing a shared supply pipe

Every property beyond the point of a water leak will be jointly responsible for the repair and the costs. If you opt for a repair, we will do our best to carry out the work for you, free of charge. Your first step should be to find out which of you and your neighbours are beyond the point of the leak.

Finding out who is beyond the point of a leak: If you discover that yours is the only home beyond the point of the leak (see graphic 1 below), you are solely responsible for stopping the leakage. If the part of the pipe needing the work sits on a neighbour's land as it does in graphic 1, you should ask for their permission before you arrange to carry out the work. It is possible that your deeds (or common law) give you the right to repair the pipe.

Graphic 1

If you discover that there are several homes beyond the point of the leak including yours, you and your affected neighbours are all jointly responsible for the work and the costs.

In graphic 2, both you and Neighbour A are responsible for the repair.

Graphic 2

Graphic 3

In graphic 3, all three of you are responsible.

Arranging the repair A repair can be effective if the leak is small and the pipe is in good condition. Supply pipes are privately owned so we do not hold information on their location but if you ask us for help, we will assess the leak. To carry out any work, we will first need you to obtain the permission of all the parties affected by the leak. If the work will need to be done on a neighbours land, you should make sure that you let them know what will be involved.

A repair can probably be made by Three Valleys Water. If we believe there is a good chance of locating the pipe and making a repair, we will dig down to try to find the leak. If at all possible, we will carry out a repair, although in some instances, this may only be temporary in nature e.g. if we believe the pipe is in poor condition and should be replaced. The decision on whether to go ahead and attempt a repair is at our discretion though if we do go ahead, the work is free of charge. If the repair we make is permanent, you will be entitled to a second free repair attempt if it is needed later on provided that we still believe the pipe is in good enough condition.

A repair cannot be made by Three Valleys Water. If when we try to dig down to the leak we find the path is obstructed or we cannot locate the pipe, we will abandon the repair attempt. We will refill the hole and make it safe. We will not reinstate the surface e.g. tarmac drives, planting etc. In all cases, we will advise you of the actions you should take next. This may include technical advice as well as information on finding a suitable contractor.

A replacement is recommended. If we have recommended that you replace the pipe and you choose not to do so, you should note that:     You must arrange and pay for any repair work yourself If you pay for water charges based on a metered supply, you will not be entitled to an allowance for the cost of lost water if there is a leak.

What happens if you don’t carry out the work needed? The waste of water is unacceptable. We will allow you a reasonable length of time to stop the leakage but if the repair or replacement if not carried out within 28 days, we will arrange for a contractor to carry out the work. If this happens, we will charge you and your neighbours for the work and will add all of our costs to the bill. Please note that if the leak is causing a serious risk to health or property, we may turn the whole supply off without prior notice to you and we will write to you to advise the steps you must take before the supply can be turned back on.