Alan-G

Old hag of a neighbour with a huge field next to our mutual property boundary knocked on the door last night exclaiming "we" have an "expensive" problem. ie. her and me, regarding her field/garden which she claims is like a mudslide and is blaming a leak from our side.

We dont have any leaks as far as I'm aware.

Previous owners had a leaky inlet pipe a couple of times but they were on the opposite side of the property. i.e 100 yards from where above old hag claims the "leak" is coming from.

Need I worry about being billed for exploratory work ?

There are other properties surrounding bit I think she's just pointing the finger me.

Cheers.

Coffin Dodger

I'd tell her to get lost. Unless she can prove the water is coming from pipework running through your land I can't see that there is much she can do about it.

If it's that much of a problem for her field then it sounds as though the drainage is pretty cr*p. She should consider having some soakaways dug to deal with it.

PaulC72

I take it is a private system not one owned by severn trent {or whatever water authority you may have}

Alan-G

Good point Paul.

Scottish water have the responsibility for the supply up until it leaves the service strip (ie. the road) and I took out burst water piping insurance from the road to the house (approx 100 yds or so - where its burst/leaked before)

My house policy covers what happens from the kitchen sink to all around the house but not beyond it.

But hey, the way I see it, is that it's the old witches garden thats water-logged, so, tuff T!tty - well, Heavily droopy T!tty actually. Her varicos veins are like the all the 'A' roads on the map of the uk all on one leg.

And today - her wee snappy wee terrier dug appeared in the back garden after our cats.

The cats are the least of my worries as their pretty streetwise but I'm worried if it ***** in the garden and my 3 year old trods in it.

Can I shoot it with a catapult or summit if it appears again - just to scare it off - not to kill it though ?

Can't help thinking the old bat is trying a mind game.

PaulC72

lol. I wouldn't say anything about that too many cat lovers around hehe.

TheVoices

iTrader: (5)

He meant shoot the dog !

Butty

iTrader: (2)

Is she talking about a flooding drain or a water supply burst?
A burst domestic supply would never travel 100 yards - they tend to show themselves on the surface very close to the actual leak.
Is either house fed with a meter?

If its a blocked drain then do you know if there is shared pipework across your properties?

nick

Alan-G

Hi nick and thanks.

To put you a bit clearer in the picture, the lines of the pipes are like this.

Domestic supply starts from the service strip (the main road) and runs 100 yards down a private, shared track road to our house. The feed pipe runs down the centre of the track and has been agitated by the bin lorries and such and apparently has burst a few times 20 yards or so from the house (with localaised puddles appearing) which have been repaired before and then the line gets to the kitchen sink. All the waste water and drainage doubles back in direction to the main sewer.

The natural lay of the land is back to the main road.

The old codgers house and land/field is beyond all the pipes/sewer etc.

Chain is sort of like this.

Main supply ----------> prev.burst pipe--------> our house
her house
main sewer<----------------------------------------------

Lie of the land <------------------------------------------

No meters in either houses but I suggested we should approach that avenue.

HTH.

Ps. from prev. digging on her land she reckoned it was fresh water.

austinwrx

she has realised august has been one of the wetest months on records ???!!!!

could easily be ground water table etc.

easy way to test drains for damage is get some drain dye and chuck it down- yr gulleys (not in yr house!!) and watch it through to manholes. if for some bizare reason in appears in yr field fair enough there is a problem.

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

if the ground is that soft, just club her over the head with a spade (not a racist comment) and bury her and her dog together and chuck a few rose seeds in as well for good measure, then in a few months when it gets warmer there will be a nice rose bush or 2 growing on the firmer soil

Butty

iTrader: (2)

Cheapest "exploratory" work is to test the fresh water with a chlorine DPD test kit. This should show if it is drinking water - cost about £25.
Do you know if her supply is teed off the one in your shared lane?
With the recent rain, a blocked field drain may well be holding back water or the collecting ditch is blocked.

Nick

Alan-G

Alan-G

Now theres a thought - HER drain blocked and mine not burst

Defo not teed with her supply Nick.