Water main connection?

DrPhilG

My house is 10 years old and has a well connection. To be honest it's a bit of a pain in the ass, iron content is very high and needs constant maintenance via filter. Also have occasional bouts of dirty water etc.

Is connecting to the mains a pain at this stage? Is there any way to find out if there is a mains connection near the house (we live rurally but there are a few houses along the road) or do I just have to go knocking on neighbours doors?

DrPhilG

@Muffler is bound to know!

rockc68

hi, some of my family are thinking about doing this for much the same reason.

I know we contacted the Water office of the Local authority, were told where the local water main was in relation to the house, got the form to apply for a connection (+ list of contractors approved to open the public road) and were told the cost (cheaper for an existing dwelling than a new build) but haven't gone any further yet. It was suggested that we could connect the new pipe from the mains into the existing pipe coming from the well but that we had to seal off the supply from the well so that it couldn't cause contamination.

So if you've doing the job or have done it, I'd be glad to hear about it and if you have any tips.

DrPhilG

I haven't been any further, so please let me know if you make any progress!

cinloom

hi i was wondering if you did connect to irish water . We also have a well but were thinking to change to irish water

Seanieke

A guy on Self Build Ireland on FB yesterday was saying he got a quote of €30k for doing just that.

cinloom

that s a lot . how would he justify that quote when irish water state a connection fee on their website of around 2K

DrPhilG

I never did get connected, just had to shell out €3k the other day to upgrade my well filtration system. I'll get just over €2k back via grant.

muffler

Seanieke wrote: »

A guy on Self Build Ireland on FB yesterday was saying he got a quote of €30k for doing just that.

That would be the exception rather than the rule. The majority of water connections would normally cost a fraction of that figure. There are exceptional circumstances where items such as a long lead, bigger pipe, pump house, etc are necessary and naturally those are going to cost a hell of a lot more than your standard connection.

Just to point out also that the charges can vary from county to county and the size of the house also dictates the costs or part thereof as part of a persons development contributions when they build a house or new business premises etc.

rockc68

hi Cinloom,

Sorry for the very slow response.

We did get a mains water connection last year. Honestly, it was a pain but worth it, I think. Also, if you ever have to sell the property, an estate agent told me that having mains water instead of a well supply can be a plus.

Below is broadly how it happened for us. Not sure how much is normal, it was a bit of a mess. Also not sure how much of what the contractor told us about delays was true.

* We applied to Irish Water for a mains water connection. It can be useful to talk to someone in the local authority's Water Dept first e.g. IW's applicaiton form requires 2 maps, we didn't have one (older house) and I was able to say that the CoCo (not Donegal, a nearby county) didn't require it. The application form also required a map reference for the property.
* IW made a formal connection offer and told us the fee, quote valid for 90 days.
* I went to the CoCo and got their list of approved contractors who have to do the work on the public side of our boundary. We hired on of them to do the work outside + inside our boundary. He contacted the CoCo for a road opening licence and gave them a traffic management plan for the road during work to connect to the mains. According to the contractor, getting the CoCo to give permission and communicate the fee took months. This bit was the slowest and the most trouble.
* Once the CoCo told the contractor that fee, we paid the IW fee then the road opening licence fee to the CoCo. Before that, we'd had to get IW to re-issue their quotation as we'd gone beyond the original 90 days. IW never told me this but someone from the CoCo said they we could have paid the IW in the beginning then got a refund if we hadn't gone ahead with the connection if, for example, the contractor + road opening licence fee were too high - you might want to check with IW about this.
* The contractor dug the "connection pit", laid the pipe, fit the stopcock and connected the new pipe to the existing pipe coming from the pump house. But it was someone from the CoCo's Water Dept who had to actually do the connection to the mains.
* The contractor had to go online to "close off" the road opening licence. After that, the Road Dept of the CoCo can inspect the work and if it's ok, they refund a portion of the road opening licence fee (that portion is held like a bond. For 1 year?). The contractor didn't do his bit at the time so we're still trying to get this sorted.

Hope this helps.

slystallone

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/111061233#Comment_111061233

For my info, at the connection point to the mains out at the road, Is there a stopcock there you have access to or is it all underground?