temp water supply issues/questions

[gwebstech]

Hi

 

i was going to use a standpipe but it seems my nearest location to use one is over a mile away from the property,?? surely that cant be right, does anyone know of a map to check ?

 

  if thats not going to be any use so i wondered how long people have had to wait for a temp supply? im in the East Mids. Im right in the doo doo now if i cant get any water, the builders were hoping to start within a week!

 

another hard lesson learned today!! my inexperience is def showing

 

thanks

Edited September 21, 2019 by gwebstech

[Conor]

Quite possible that the nearest watermain is a mile from your house, unusual but not impossible. You can use IBCs during the build if you need to.

 

Have you put in an application with your water company for a connection? I'd step back and look into your water, waste, electricity etc and get a good idea of connection costs and timeframes before starting anything.

[Thedreamer]

Yes as @Conor suggests get services sorted before you start building.

 

Usually contractors who come on site  when doing quotes, ask about services being on site then?

 

IBCs and asking neighbours kindly for use of their hosepipe?

 

I would get the ball rolling on the electricity connection now.

[mafaldina]

Was there not a search done when you bought the site? If not you can request a map from your local water company, usually costs around fifty quid mark.

[Jeremy Harris]

We used a towed water tanker on site for a few weeks.  Easy enough to fill up and tow to the site, and most hire places have them.  They aren't usually OK for potable water, though, so to get around the need for that I bought a couple of caravan type water containers (about 20 litres, I think) and filled those up at home and dropped them over to the site for tea and coffee making etc.  Worked OK, just a bit of a faff shifting water around for a few weeks.

 

Mains water wasn't a realistic possibility for us anyway, as we're so far from the nearest main.  It was a lot cheaper to drill a borehole (but that was itself a long saga).

[gwebstech]

On 21/09/2019 at 09:35, Conor said:

Quite possible that the nearest watermain is a mile from your house, unusual but not impossible. You can use IBCs during the build if you need to.

 

Have you put in an application with your water company for a connection? I'd step back and look into your water, waste, electricity etc and get a good idea of connection costs and timeframes before starting anything.

 

not yet no, i thought using a standpipe would be quite near to run a hose to, now i know different! Another thing thats screwed me up is my mortgage guy hadnt done anything for nearly 3 months! so ive had to apply for the mortgage myself which is obv weeks away which means i wont have all the money i need now because of him, which is one reason i hadnt applied for services yet due to having to pay upfront. ive got a generator for the electric but its the water thats the issue, some neghbours are nice but some are a right pain and not helpful at all

 

this is the only thing ive screwed up on, but its been a big screw up, if i cant borrow any water im up the creek for weeks

On 21/09/2019 at 10:08, mafaldina said:

Was there not a search done when you bought the site? If not you can request a map from your local water company, usually costs around fifty quid mark.

 

not sure if this was part of any necessary search? i can soon get a copy of something from the water board if i need to

 

On 21/09/2019 at 10:14, JSHarris said:

We used a towed water tanker on site for a few weeks.  Easy enough to fill up and tow to the site, and most hire places have them.  They aren't usually OK for potable water, though, so to get around the need for that I bought a couple of caravan type water containers (about 20 litres, I think) and filled those up at home and dropped them over to the site for tea and coffee making etc.  Worked OK, just a bit of a faff shifting water around for a few weeks.

 

Mains water wasn't a realistic possibility for us anyway, as we're so far from the nearest main.  It was a lot cheaper to drill a borehole (but that was itself a long saga).

 

thought of that, no room on site, a really small site width wise and if i do get one i can imagine the neighbours moaning about it being parked there

 

thanks guys

[Jeremy Harris]

1 minute ago, gwebstech said:

thought of that, no room on site, a really small site width wise and if i do get one i can imagine the neighbours moaning about it being parked there

 

 

The tanker I used was small enough to tow behind a car.  The hire places have these small ones: https://www.hss.com/hire/p/250-gallon-water-bowser

 

Our site was pretty tight, but we managed to find space to put this, although it did need moving about from time to time.

 

 

[gwebstech]

Just now, JSHarris said:

 

The tanker I used was small enough to tow behind a car.  The hire places have these small ones: https://www.hss.com/hire/p/250-gallon-water-bowser

 

Our site was pretty tight, but we managed to find space to put this, although it did need moving about from time to time.

 

 

 

thanks, i was just looking at similar things

[Jeremy Harris]

Worth looking at seeing if you can  get a reduced rate for a longer period of hire.  The one I hired came from our local plant hire place (not one of the big national tool hire firms) and they offered a better deal for hiring it for a month at a time.  I think I had it for around 2 months in total, then reverted to using 20 litre jerry cans, filled from home each day.

[Dreadnaught]

Beginners question as I prepare for my build, if I may: what are the uses of water during the phases of the build? Which trades really need it?

 

I assume that usage for tea/coffee is only a tiny part. 

 

In my case, I have a water supply under the road outside the plot but I haven't thought about when to connect it or whether to have a stand pipe.

[Jeremy Harris]

1 hour ago, Dreadnaught said:

Beginners question as I prepare for my build, if I may: what are the uses of water during the phases of the build? Which trades really need it?

 

I assume that usage for tea/coffee is only a tiny part. 

 

In my case, I have a water supply under the road outside the plot but I haven't thought about when to connect it or whether to have a stand pipe.

 

 

You need it for washing stuff, including hands (HS&E requirement), mixing concrete, plaster, tile cement, diluting paint, and cleaning up after all this stuff.  You may also need it if, like us, your have a condition requiring that mud isn't tracked into the lane from vehicles, meaning that tyres and tracks may need to be washed down.

[recoveringbuilder]

We originally were to have a standpipe but Scottish Water took so long to connect us the house was all but finished before we got a connection, we were lucky that we got filling a couple of IBCs with a hose from our neighbour. We were charged £200 by Scottish Water for ‘building water’ which we never had.

[gwebstech]

Well the brickies came today and said its prob better for them and cheaper overall for me to get ready mix delivered on site

 

with them not having to mix, im getting a lot more moneys worth out of them when all 3 are laying all day so im happy to do that which means i dont need the water  as urgently now. a tub is about £40 they say, 3 a day to do approx 2000 bricks

 

thanks

[Jeremy Harris]

They will still need a fair bit of water to wash tools, boots, hands etc, probably more than would go into the mixes.  I was surprised at just how much water was used for washing stuff, but I saved a fair bit by having two old plastic dustbins, with lids.  These were used for washing stuff, with one bin being the "dirty" one for initial washing, the other the "clean" bin for rinsing stuff.  This worked well, as the worst of the muck tended to settle in the bottom of the bins overnight, which saved having to replace the water in them too often.

[gwebstech]

23 hours ago, JSHarris said:

They will still need a fair bit of water to wash tools, boots, hands etc, probably more than would go into the mixes.  I was surprised at just how much water was used for washing stuff, but I saved a fair bit by having two old plastic dustbins, with lids.  These were used for washing stuff, with one bin being the "dirty" one for initial washing, the other the "clean" bin for rinsing stuff.  This worked well, as the worst of the muck tended to settle in the bottom of the bins overnight, which saved having to replace the water in them too often.

 

ive got 2 old wheelie bins on site, and have pumped some soakaway water into them -great minds think alike lol

[SuperJohnG]

@gwebstech

 

As others have said I the services should be the first port of call prior to anything I would say as you may not even be able to get them without losing a considerable chunk of money.

 

I am in the process of finalising my plot purchase, but I included clauses which said I had to be able to get power and water to the site and at reasonable costs. This allowed me the time to go and get official quotes and derisk these costs prior to purchase. 

 

My power comes from 400m away across two fields with different owners (both whom I have discussed this with for wayleaves to ensure they are happy) which will cost me 18K. Water was only 1k to connect the main but it is 400m away up the road so I am just awaiting costs to trench the verge and ensure it is reasonable. 

 

As you say you have to pay these upfront, but here in Scotland the DNO - (Scottish power energy networks) provide a detailed quote which is valid for 3 months, so you can get it all in place and then hit the button at the right time pay it and then it will be installed to minimise your time between outlay and getting power onsite. 

 

Similarly Scottish waters quote is valid for 12 months so at least I know there is capacity and the costs wont change once I conclude the missives on the plot. 

 

I would be focus on getting those quotes. 

[recoveringbuilder]

4 minutes ago, SuperJohnG said:

@gwebstech

 

As others have said I the services should be the first port of call prior to anything I would say as you may not even be able to get them without losing a considerable chunk of money.

 

I am in the process of finalising my plot purchase, but I included clauses which said I had to be able to get power and water to the site and at reasonable costs. This allowed me the time to go and get official quotes and derisk these costs prior to purchase. 

 

My power comes from 400m away across two fields with different owners (both whom I have discussed this with for wayleaves to ensure they are happy) which will cost me 18K. Water was only 1k to connect the main but it is 400m away up the road so I am just awaiting costs to trench the verge and ensure it is reasonable. 

 

As you say you have to pay these upfront, but here in Scotland the DNO - (Scottish power energy networks) provide a detailed quote which is valid for 3 months, so you can get it all in place and then hit the button at the right time pay it and then it will be installed to minimise your time between outlay and getting power onsite. 

 

Similarly Scottish waters quote is valid for 12 months so at least I know there is capacity and the costs wont change once I conclude the missives on the plot. 

 

I would be focus on getting those quotes. 

Wayleaves can take a considerable time to sort out so I wouldn’t be leaving asking for your connection until the last minute. Who are you receiving quotes from re your water connection, we had a terrible time trying to get this work done and Scottish water told us they didn’t do this work although I think it’s a regional thing as others on here have had it done by Scottish water 

[SuperJohnG]

32 minutes ago, Christine Walker said:

Wayleaves can take a considerable time to sort out so I wouldn’t be leaving asking for your connection until the last minute. Who are you receiving quotes from re your water connection, we had a terrible time trying to get this work done and Scottish water told us they didn’t do this work although I think it’s a regional thing as others on here have had it done by Scottish water 

@Christine Walker Yes they did say a few months for wayleaves. By last minute I really mean the last point which would work with the schedule. I will probably pay for it 6 months prior to scheduled house being wind and watertight and just suck up the fact it's 20k gone at the start, but it is built into cashflow.

 

Scottish water obviously gave us the POC charge at £1k. I will use a friends civil contracts business who has is an approved contractor who can get road opening permits as I trust him and I can help which will keep costs down. But for a comparison I called a local utility contractor to get a ballpark figure for trenching my water pipe (32mm mdpe) 400m from the main POC to my plot.

 

He quoted £25k if its in the verge and 50k if its under the road.....em...nope thanks. A borehole would be £15-20K Fully completed and opertaional (That was a budget figure from Raeburn drilling).  

Edited November 1, 2019 by SuperJohnG

[recoveringbuilder]

4 hours ago, SuperJohnG said:

@Christine Walker Yes they did say a few months for wayleaves. By last minute I really mean the last point which would work with the schedule. I will probably pay for it 6 months prior to scheduled house being wind and watertight and just suck up the fact it's 20k gone at the start, but it is built into cashflow.

 

Scottish water obviously gave us the POC charge at £1k. I will use a friends civil contracts business who has is an approved contractor who can get road opening permits as I trust him and I can help which will keep costs down. But for a comparison I called a local utility contractor to get a ballpark figure for trenching my water pipe (32mm mdpe) 400m from the main POC to my plot.

 

He quoted £25k if its in the verge and 50k if its under the road.....em...nope thanks. A borehole would be £15-20K Fully completed and opertaional (That was a budget figure from Raeburn drilling).  

Yes that’s where I was going with this, we couldn’t get a decent price for road opening for water connection but we were lucky when the pm from Scottish power came out and heard our predicament he said he’d do it for us at the same time as electric so saved us a fortune!

[ProDave]

It is indeed funny how the same utility gives such variable service.  For us Scottish Water gave the cheapest price for the road crossing and that one road crossing incorporated ducts for electricity and telephone, though it was me that was present on the day and dropped the ducts into the trench as it was being filled, with the agreement of the contractors.