Lead Pipe Renewal

Do I have lead water supply pipes?

If your property was built before 1970 then there is a chance that you have lead water pipes. Lead pipe is banned because of the adverse affect to health, and it is recommended that exposure to lead is minimised as far as possible.

If you are uncertain whether you have lead pipes then check the pipe where it enters your property, usually at the internal stop valve under the kitchen sink or in a downstairs bathroom or toilet. Lead pipes are dark grey and soft and, if gently scraped with a coin, you will see the shiny, silver-coloured metal.

What to do next

We can renew the water supply pipe from the boundary of your property up to the internal stop valve with new MDPE pipe. Call us to arrange a no-obligation quotation and we can discuss with you the best route and method to lay your new pipe. Usually we will lay pipes by moling them under the surface using a compressed air driven mole which minimises the need for us to dig on your property. We will take your new pipe in to your property and join up with your existing supply inside your property, usually at the point where your rising main is located currently.

R&D Water Engineers is a South West Water approved company. We are also highways accredited and all our engineers are qualified in Streetworks which means that we are able to apply for permission from the council and carry out works in the public highway should this prove necessary.

A thoughtful resinstatement

This one caught my eye as a thoughtful resinstatement carried out last week, matching the new concrete to its surroundings. It is unavoidable that we dig on your property so that we can access your pipe. But we do try to make our excavations as neat as we can, and we put everything we dig […]

Found a leak?

South West Water may help you with the cost of repairing or renewing your leaking pipe and it is worth contacting them to confirm this if you have a leak. They have recently re-vamped thei website and have published their Code of Practice on Leakage for Domestic Customers. It has very good information about what […]

Health and Safety accredited for another year

We have undertaken our annual health and safety audit with SafeContractor and have successfully completed the process again. This tells you, the paying customer, that we are responsible in our attitude to both our and your safety, that we are keenly aware of the risks involved in the work we undertake and do all we […]

I just wanted to say a big thank you for replacing our water supply pipe yesterday. The guys that arrived to do it were clearly very knowledgeable, professional throughout. They completed the replacement quicker than I expected and left everything as it was before. I am very impressed by the work they carried out and would absolutely recommend your company to others.

Your engineers came to our home and fixed a particularly difficult to reach burst pipe, it was under our main living room! Things like this happen in a 300 year old house with a history of unplanned extensions and no record of what was before.

They were both marvellous and treated the digging up of our floor as if it were in their own home. They kept all work to a minimum and took away the debris with them and even cleaned my floor before leaving!

I cannot say thank you enough and recommend them as a team for their professionalism and care.

Jan 2020 - South Zeal, EX20

My wife and I would also like you to know how delighted and impressed we are, not only with the completed job but also with the manner in which your two engineers dealt with the problem. Nothing was too much trouble, the quality of their work was outstanding and their attitude (despite some difficult and unexpected technical problems which cropped up on more than one occasion) was hugely positive, reassuring and proactive. Furthermore, not only did they deal with the specified work but Phil discovered two more minor leaks in the pipe work leading into the house which he also dealt with. Needless to say, we will unhesitatingly recommend R&D to all our friends and acquaintances. Right from your first visit to us we have found all aspects of your company’s ethos and performance absolutely of the highest order and for this we offer our most sincere thanks.

I would like to thank your engineers who, on the day of work itself, were extremely good, hard working and professional.

We used R&D to carry out the large job of extending the water main to 10 houses in our road. The job was a complex one involving crossing the land of three separate landowners with 10 pipes in sleeving and making connections to the ten housesl also negotiations with South West Water and complying to their requirements. Russel and his team were kind, helpful and efficient at every stage of the long drawn out process.

I would not hesitate in recommending R&D to anyone.