Clark Drain CD880 140mm x 115mm x 75mm Stop Tap Stopcock Cover/lid PVC Locking Surround Box

Product Information

If you’ve got a plumbing problem, you can find a Which? Trusted Traders endorsed plumber in your area. How many stop taps in your home? If you’ve got a water-meter, there’ll be a modern plastic tap next to the meter. Mark says: ‘A modern water-meter comes with a plastic stop tap, which doesn’t corrode.’ In other words, it should work and is relatively simple to turn off by hand or a universal stop tap key (available from any hardware store) if it’s too deep to reach. In an emergency, your local water company guarantee to come out within 24 hours. However, this is more than long enough for a leak within your property to create some serious damage. Mark does not recommend using lubricating oil, WD40 or similar to try to loosen a stop tap. He explained: ‘Oil and WD40 work on rust, so on ferrous metals. There’s nothing worse than arriving to find a customer has sprayed the stop tap with WD40, as it just makes it slippery to work with.’

Even a simple plumbing job, such as changing a tap on a sink, becomes more complicated and more costly if you’re unable to shut off the water effectively within your home. If the T-bar handle is across the pipe, this should mean the mains are shut. If it’s in line with the pipe, the mains should be open. This kit includes four things manufactured in polypropylene. The foundation, the shield pipe, the support collar and a surface box badged H20. The Stop Tap Install Kit was created with a base to match the large assortment different of 25mm and 32mm water stop taps; the service shield pipe is 150mm in diameter, and along with the support collar, has secure fixings for the Quad surface box (badged WATER). These kits have been supplied to most of the water utility companies in the UK for many years. All items available separately. If in doubt, call in a plumber who will advise you on whether it’s possible to fix it or replace it. You can find an endorsed plumber in your local area with Which? Trusted Traders. Can you turn off the water from the street? The external valve controls the flow from the water main that serves your street to the supply pipe into your house.If a stop tap has seized up, it’s probably scaled up and full of debris, rather than rusty. Plumbing parts are made of non-ferrous metals, such as brass or copper, so they corrode and scale up rather than rust. Mark told us: ‘An old-fashioned stop tap that hasn’t been turned for a couple of years is unlikely to work, in which case you’ll have to get the Water Board out. They will have to fix the stop tap in the road before you can do anything in the house.’ You'll usually get to a point where you can’t turn it anymore. You shouldn’t use force to turn it further.

Make sure you are aware of the location of your internal stop tap, you may need it in an emergency. Without isolation valves or a working stop tap, your plumber may need to drain the entire system before making any repairs. This takes time and, as plumbers often charge by the hour, often means higher charges. On the plus side, once your system is drained, it’s a great opportunity to install new isolation valves or a new stop tap. Is my water company responsible for the mains water stop valve is a common question and one that the answer has recently changed. The water utility companies provide two main piped services to your home. The first is the delivery of fresh water. The second is the removal of waste water from both sewage and drainage. In the past it has been unclear as to who is responsible between the homeowner/landlords and the Utility Company for which of the piping and associated taps within each boundary. Very recently the government and utility companies have moved to clarify this as follows.Many external stop taps are in the highway, so you may need to be aware of road traffic and ensure that you do not create a hazard. For example by leaving a stop tap cover open where it may trip up a pedestrian or damage a car.