Pressure loss

[TedTrippin]

So....

We've had a new kitchen and decided to move the stop cock so it wouldn't require some unsightly boxing. This house was built circa 1930's and the stop cock is connected to a lead pipe. We had a good plumber move the stop cock about 3 inches, just enough so it would be hidden by the new plinth. That was 7 days ago and everything was fine.

This morning, we noticed the pressure had dropped significantly. Still sufficient for appliances to work. This evening I decided to turn the outside stopcock off-n-on several times. Now the kitchen tap is reduced to a drip. The neighbours say their water flow is fine.

Could the lead pipe have collapsed? Has the stop cock stopped? What's the most likely culprit? What can I do before shelling out for a plumber.

 

[muggles]

Could be an issue with the outside stopcock. That's normally owned by your water undertaker and so you shouldn't need to pay anything to get it sorted, just give them a call

 

[TedTrippin]

Update:

We have a tap in the garage which I believe is not affected by the stop cock in the kitchen as its also attached to a lead pipe. I'm assuming the lead pipe is branched somewhere beneath the house.

Anyway, I turned the kitchen stop cock off. No water out the kitchen tap. Getting a dribble out the garage tap. I'm wondering if that points to either the lead pipe burst or like muggles suggests the outside stop cock not opening fully.

 

[TedTrippin]

So....

Phoned South Staffs Water who told us to deal with it ourselves as our neighbours weren't affected.

Spoke to a plumber who said the problem was probably the outside stop tap and not the pipe, phone SSW back.

Phoned SSW back and told them what I'd done and the symptoms and that we had no water (we only had a pathetic dribble at this point).

They sent out an engineer who checked the return valve. He found we had a restrictor fitted which had got a piece of gravel stuck in it!