Self build water connection ideas

[Amateur bob]

Good afternoon, wonder if someone can help me im currently looking into water connection scottish water have given me a pricey quote which involves crossing a road and fields(we own the fields) 600m away, however the plot is at farm steading we own which has water for the steading i could simply tap into?

 

there is also a seperate pipe running across another field 100m away which goes from our steading to a neighbours cottage which i could tap into, would either of these 2 alternate options be legal? as they would save a lot of time, work and money!

 

the steading and this cottage are on a metre but the neighbour subtracts his metre from the total with residential being free

 

thanks!

[JohnMo]

I too went to Scottish water, they wanted me go through loads of work, ended up having a borehole and my own pump. It was way cheaper. Water Diviner came, after about 10 mins said where to drill and how deep. Was spot on. Water charge in our area is £445 a year, so no need to pay that either.

[Amateur bob]

18 hours ago, JohnMo said:

I too went to Scottish water, they wanted me go through loads of work, ended up having a borehole and my own pump. It was way cheaper. Water Diviner came, after about 10 mins said where to drill and how deep. Was spot on. Water charge in our area is £445 a year, so no need to pay that either.

ive technically already got water at the farm i can connect into if i wanted its whether this is ok for a lender etc that im curious about as ill need a mortgage

[Susie]

I don’t know about Scottish rules but I’m in England on a farm with water already available but we had to lay another pipe following same route for first 25 metres and then continue onto new build which already had its own supply as a barn but had to be disconnected. Each needs own supply. 

[Amateur bob]

9 hours ago, Susie said:

I don’t know about Scottish rules but I’m in England on a farm with water already available but we had to lay another pipe following same route for first 25 metres and then continue onto new build which already had its own supply as a barn but had to be disconnected. Each needs own supply. 

how do u mean the first 25m? did you have to connect into the mains?

[IanR]

On 15/10/2023 at 09:34, Amateur bob said:

Good afternoon, wonder if someone can help me im currently looking into water connection scottish water have given me a pricey quote which involves crossing a road and fields(we own the fields) 600m away, however the plot is at farm steading we own which has water for the steading i could simply tap into?

 

My experience in England, was that I had to be on my own meter, and the meter was at the road, so had to run a new connection to the main, install a new meter at the road, and a new pipe from meter to property (130m for me). 

 

Since I was running power, broadband and data to the road as well, I dug a trench. If you are doing water only and crossing mostly fields, could you find someone local that offers a mole plough installation.

 

As an example from a google search:

https://www.pe100plus.com/PE-Pipes/Technical-guidance/Trenchless/Methods/Installation/Mole-Ploughing-i1303.html

 

[joe90]

If you only want water (no trench) ring around farmers, one will have a mole plough that fits on their tractor..

[Amateur bob]

6 hours ago, joe90 said:

If you only want water (no trench) ring around farmers, one will have a mole plough that fits on their tractor..

that looks handy, is that def allowed because usually scottish water have to inspect the laid pipe before theyll connect?

[Amateur bob]

7 hours ago, IanR said:

 

My experience in England, was that I had to be on my own meter, and the meter was at the road, so had to run a new connection to the main, install a new meter at the road, and a new pipe from meter to property (130m for me). 

 

Since I was running power, broadband and data to the road as well, I dug a trench. If you are doing water only and crossing mostly fields, could you find someone local that offers a mole plough installation.

 

As an example from a google search:

https://www.pe100plus.com/PE-Pipes/Technical-guidance/Trenchless/Methods/Installation/Mole-Ploughing-i1303.html

 

strange that you needed to have a metre for the house i was under the impression that water to residential houses was free and only businesses need a metre?

[Kelvin]

10 minutes ago, Amateur bob said:

strange that you needed to have a metre for the house i was under the impression that water to residential houses was free and only businesses need a metre?

Not in England. I had two water meters at the last place. One for the house and one for the paddock. This was in Cambs. 

Edited October 18, 2023 by Kelvin

[joe90]

New build connections require a water meter. Farmers use mole ploughing for water connections all the time, yes my connection trench was inspected but it was dug by hand, as long as you can show it starts at the right depth I don’t think they would argue.

[saveasteading]

2 hours ago, Amateur bob said:

water to residential houses was free 

There is a big problem with water supply in Southern England. I'm not aware of any additional supply being sourced. Without metered use it would be,  and become, very much worse.

It's just a shame so much of the money goes abroad and not into infrastructure.

 

Lots of rain on its way, will help if they can catch it.

 

Scottish water is still a national asset. 

 

 

[Susie]

14 hours ago, Amateur bob said:

how do u mean the first 25m? did you have to connect into the mains?

It will be a new meter at the road side by side with the existing meter for our house. The pipe runs parallel to existing pipe for 25m then turns away for next 125m to the barn which is a knockdown and new build. The existing cow shed had water fed from the home which is now disconnected. 
we own both and are still on same land registry until we come to sell. In the long run it’s better it has its own supply but it’s two standing charges. 
 

[Amateur bob]

15 hours ago, Kelvin said:

Not in England. I had two water meters at the last place. One for the house and one for the paddock. This was in Cambs. 

so its different rules from scotland?

[Amateur bob]

13 hours ago, saveasteading said:

There is a big problem with water supply in Southern England. I'm not aware of any additional supply being sourced. Without metered use it would be,  and become, very much worse.

It's just a shame so much of the money goes abroad and not into infrastructure.

 

Lots of rain on its way, will help if they can catch it.

 

Scottish water is still a national asset. 

 

 

interesting, i didnt realise england was different

[Amateur bob]

i was speaking to someone yesterday who had been renevating his house, he says the planners are giving him hassle so hes decided hell never be moving so he wont bother signing the house off, ill never be moving either but i will need a mortgage so im guessing mine will need to be signed off with official connections etc at the point before the lenders will change mine from a self build mortgage to a standard one?

[JohnMo]

We are getting our council tax banding sorted out, I noticed that Scottish Water get involved as they are part of the charging on the council tax in Scotland. We got copied on an email where the council was confirming with Scottish Water if we were connected.

 

If you don't do thing properly you will be tripped up one way or another.

[Amateur bob]

3 minutes ago, JohnMo said:

We are getting our council tax banding sorted out, I noticed that Scottish Water get involved as they are part of the charging on the council tax in Scotland. We got copied on an email where the council was confirming with Scottish Water if we were connected.

 

If you don't do thing properly you will be tripped up one way or another.

so if i connected to a pipe on the farm myself what would happen would i not get council tax?

[JohnMo]

No idea, but you would certainly be charged council tax, no getting around that, for long.

[Amateur bob]

Just now, JohnMo said:

No idea, but you would certainly be charged council tax, no getting around that, for long.

i wonder what would happen though is SW got involved at this stage and realised id just done my own connection for free

[jamieled]

 

2 minutes ago, Amateur bob said:

i wonder what would happen though is SW got involved at this stage and realised id just done my own connection for free

 

All Water Companies (and SW are no exception) tend to be pretty careful about the specification and checking of new connections to ensure their network is not affected. If your connection and plumbing is to their standard then hopefully just a little paperwork? In the worst case they may disconnect the entire connection until any remedial work is done, to prevent any impact on their operations or customers and then take enforcement action.

[Kelvin]

Feels like we’re going round in circles. What’s the minimum cost to have a proper SW connection with you doing as much of the trenching and pipe laying as possible. 
 

I tend to try and follow the rules (rules are for fools etc) as while you might get away with it you might not which just creates a whole World of pain later. 

[MR10]

1 hour ago, Amateur bob said:

i wonder what would happen though is SW got involved at this stage and realised id just done my own connection for free

One of our planning conditions is for connection to the public water supply. Assuming you have a similar planning condition, how do you plan to discharge it without some form of confirmation from Scottish water?

Edited October 19, 2023 by MR10
Clarity

[saveasteading]

On 15/10/2023 at 10:34, Amateur bob said:

wonder if someone can help me

So there you have it. Lots of advice, and people on here are not your average,  cautious types.

Do it right, do it legally. But talk to the water company, especially about what you can do yourself. Generally they have no desire to dig trenches, and their quotes include groundwork contractors, which you can easily beat.

There's usually someone helpful to talk to. 

[Amateur bob]

3 hours ago, Kelvin said:

Feels like we’re going round in circles. What’s the minimum cost to have a proper SW connection with you doing as much of the trenching and pipe laying as possible. 
 

I tend to try and follow the rules (rules are for fools etc) as while you might get away with it you might not which just creates a whole World of pain later. 

yes the proper connection seems the logical way its just that 600m is a long way, expensive to cross road and also could loose pressure over this distance so i was seeing what alternative solutions could be as lot of folk have said to me uve water at the steading just connect there, it sounds like its not legal though thanks for the feedback everyone