Someone from Council said our Premises is leaking 5000L a day!

Calibos

Didn't get to talk to him myself but am told that he said our water metre indicates we are using 5000L a day and as we are a small shop with flat above there is no way this can be correct and we must have a leak.

Once told about this, I went outside and removed the lid from the water metre and can indeed see that the last red digit on the right (which measures single litres) is turning over by 1 every 15 seconds or so. A little bit of math where there is 86400 seconds in a day divided by 5000L equals a litre every 17 seconds which tallies with what I saw.

I couldn't close the water mains valve because since the last time I looked the 4 inch pipe shroud its set into in the ground had filled with muck and worms and ceased and rusted the Stopcock. However we knew we weren't using water in the shop and the tenants in the flat above were at work, so there could have been little to no actual water usage at the time I checked the water meter.

So its looking like we are definitely leaking 5000L a day as the Council guy says. The water metre is literally only about a metre outside our boundary so its obvious the leak is our responsibility. I can't be sure because the property is about 100 years old but based on where the meter is located on the footpath outside and the direction the pipe to the Mains Valve comes from, I have a feeling the mains pipe runs from the water meter up a concreted lane at the side of the property and around the back of the property under a concrete floored lean-to shed/extension/storeroom. The Sewer pipes also take this route. There is no evidence of water springs or new property subsidence or sinkholes, so I wonder have we gotten lucky in that respect at least and the mains pipe leak has found its way into the old sewer pipes.

My main question is who to we contact or contract to fix this for us. Is it a plumber? I assume not a regular one if concrete lanes need to be dug up? Or is it Irish Water themselves that fix all mains leaks its just a question of whether the water user or Irish water pay for the work depending on where the leak is??

I'm afraid to ask how much it will cost to dig up, lay new mains and re-concrete over about a 9m length!!

This kind of thing always happens to us. We get great news recently about a several thousand euro cost saving for our business only to discover literally 3 days later that we may be facing an unforeseen cost of several thousand euro. Typical!!! ARRGGHH!!! 

Irish Water: Agata

Hi Calibos,

Thank you for your message and we are sorry to hear this.

In order for us to look into this for you, would you mind send us a PM with the following details:

- Name;
- Address;
- Contact number;
- Account number; and
- WPRN

Thanks in advance,
Agata