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Homes built before 1970 may still have lead supply pipes, according to Severn Trent. Lead pipe replacement means swapping the lead pipe inside your boundary for new blue MDPE plastic. Once that is done, Severn Trent‘s Lead Replacement Scheme can give you a free new connection and replace its own lead up to the boundary.
How the scheme splits the work
The work divides at the boundary, the same way responsibility does.
Your side runs from the boundary stop tap to the stop tap inside the house, and you pay to replace it. Severn Trent‘s side runs from the water main to the boundary. It replaces its lead and connects your new pipe free, as long as your home meets the scheme’s criteria.
The order matters. Your new pipe goes in first. Severn Trent says the new connection can take up to 16 weeks, and the trench shouldn’t be backfilled before any inspection it requires. We check the current criteria with you before digging, so nothing has to be reopened.
Laying the new pipe
The new MDPE pipe is laid between 750mm and 1,350mm below finished ground level, the depth set by the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999. Across a lawn it goes in an open trench. Under a drive, path or patio it can often be moled, which means a pit at each end instead of a trench through the surface.
Inside, the new pipe is connected to the internal stop tap with WRAS-approved fittings and pressure-tested before anything is covered.
Shared lead supplies
Severn Trent says Victorian terraces usually share one supply pipe, pre-1940s semis often do, and many council estates were built with one large pipe along the backs of the houses. Many of those shared supplies are also old enough to be lead. On a shared supply, Severn Trent requires the work to be done by a WaterSafe plumber, and every household served by the pipe needs to agree. Shared supply pipe leaks explains how joint responsibility works.
Leaks on lead pipes
A leak on a lead supply pipe is usually a sign of its age. A patch repair will stop today’s leak, but the rest of the pipe is just as old. If the leak has been found, the report sets out the cost of a repair against a full replacement under the scheme, so you can choose. What lead pipe replacement costs has the local figures.
What's included
- Check that the pipe is lead, and where it runs
- Advice on the Severn Trent scheme before any work
- New MDPE pipe from the boundary to your stop tap
- Laid 750mm–1,350mm deep, by trench or mole
- Trench left open for inspection if required
- Connection to the internal stop tap with approved fittings
- Pressure test of the new pipe
- Paperwork for the free reconnection
How the options compare
The lead on the water company's side
- Do it yourself
- Left in place
- Dig-and-hope operator
- Often forgotten
- Proper leak detection
- Replaced free under the scheme
Scheme rules
- Do it yourself
- Unknown
- Dig-and-hope operator
- Sometimes broken
- Proper leak detection
- Followed, including inspection before backfill
Drive or path
- Do it yourself
- Dug up
- Dig-and-hope operator
- Dug up
- Proper leak detection
- Moled underneath where the ground allows
Shared supply
- Do it yourself
- Not allowed without a WaterSafe plumber
- Dig-and-hope operator
- Not always checked
- Proper leak detection
- Handled per the scheme rules
