GB2307710A - Water supply system and piping therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

A water supply system comprises piping (15) from an underground mains supply (16) to a building (10) characterised in that the piping (15A) emerges from underground adjacent the building (10), is attached to and runs up a wall (13) of the building (10) and enters the building (10) above ground level to connect into the water supply infrastructure (20,21) inside the building (10). Piping, suitable for use with the above water supply system, comprises an inner pipe (24), an intermediate layer of thermal insulation (25) and an outer tube (26).

Description

WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM This invention relates to a water supply system and particularly to a novel form of piping through which water is supplied and a novel arrangement of piping to provide a water supply.

The invention is applicable both to domestic and industrial water supplies but will be described hereinafter for convenience with specific reference to domestic water supplies.

It has been the custom in the water supply industry to lay underground pipes connecting individual premises to the water mains. This method has the advantages of protecting the pipes from damage and from extremes of temperature. It also prevents unsightly, heavily lagged pipes being exposed to view. The disadvantage of the method is that it is expensive to bury pipes and subsequently to maintain them and replace them, particularly when the ground is made or metalled.

In many domestic properties, particularly in older properties, e.g. a row of terraced houses, the water supply to each property is via a shared single supply from a water main in the street. In such an arrangement, the single supply normally travels underground, e.g. beneath a pedestrian access entry, often in lead piping, to the rear of the houses, where it branches and is fed into each house underground. It usually rises into the premises in the kitchen beneath a sink.

The demands on water supplies have risen steadily over the last few decades commensurate with increasing living standards. Moreover, water companies have tended to reduce mains pressure to reduce pumping costs and leakage. These trends have combined to render water supply pressure to individual properties, particularly in shared systems, less than is ideal and sometimes unpredictable depending on local demands on the shared system at any time.

Supply pipe work on premises, i.e. within the boundary of the property, is usually the responsibility of the owner of the premises, not the water supplier whose responsibility ends at the boundary of the property.

Moreover, shared supplies can be a source of problems of metering and of access and responsibility when supply problems such as leakage or bursts require investigation.

Rectifying these problems by conventional supply separation techniques is very expensive.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a supply system that can alleviate these problems.

However, as indicated above, the invention is not limited to use in domestic supply systems and is equally useful in shared supplies to industrial locations, e.g. in industrial sites and buildings that are divided into a number of separate business units.

Accordingly, in one aspect, the invention provides a water supply system comprising piping to a building, in which the piping is connected underground to the mains supply for that building, the piping emerges from underground adjacent the building, is attached to and runs up a wall of the building and enters the building above ground level to connect into the water supply infrastructure inside the building.

The wall may be an exterior wall of the building and the piping may nun up the exterior of the wall. In a domestic property, the piping may enter the roof space, e.g. via the eaves, to run into the cold water pipework leading to the header tank in the roof space.

The piping, depending on the climatic conditions of the location, may need to be insulated to prevent water freezing therein and it may also be encased in an exterior tubing sheath to give a protective and/or visual effect. In particular, the exterior sheath may give the piping the appearance of a guttering downpipe, i.e. so as to fit in with the general appearance of the exterior of the property.

Accordingly in another aspect, the invention provides a length of water piping comprising an inner pipe to carry the water, an intermediate layer of thermal insulation and an outer tube to encase the insulation.

The outer tube may be of substantially rigid plastics material, e.g. pvc, to simulate a plastics downpipe. Altematively, it may be, for example, of aluminium or of cast iron to simulate downpipes of those materials.

The piping may be attached to the wall by any conventional fittings of appropriate material and, by appropriate choice of material and colour, may then appear to be part of the rainwater system of the property.

Thus the invention enables a more convenient supply arrangement to be provided without risk of freezing or damage and without being an unsightly addition to the exterior of a building.

The inner pipe may be of any suitable material, e.g. plastics or metal, that meets the necessary standards of the water supply regulations. Thus, it may be rigid, semi-rigid or flexible.

The intermediate insulation layer may be a proprietary foam pipe insulation and its thickness and performance spedfication can readily be chosen by the skilled man of the art to meet the local climatic conditions.

The composite piping of the invention may be assembled by any convenient means.

Thus, for example, it may be factory assembled by fitting a length of annular insulation material around a length of the inner piping and then introducing the composite so formed into the outer tube. Alternatively, the insulation material may be formed in-situ between the inner pipe and outer tube or it may be formed in-situ around the inner pipe and the composite so formed then introduced into the outer tube.

Thus it will be appreciated that the three layers of the piping may be tightly bonded or compressed together or a looser fit may be utilised, as desired.

The piping may instead be assembled in situ, i.e. during installation at a particular property, which may have the advantage of enabling each of the three layers to be individually cut to length, as desired, and then assembled to provide the required length of composite piping.

The composite piping of the invention, therefore, is robust and designed to cope with local extremes of weather and temperature. If necessary, a protective U-section cover could be fixed over the piping to protect it, e.g. from vandalism, for the first two or three metres of its rise from the ground.

The arrangement provided by the present invention has significant advantages. It can readily be retro-fitted to an existing supply system by connection, as indicated above, into an existing cold water supply just before the cold water tank. For example, it can be connected by a T-piece inserted on the existing supply to the tank. The original rising main in the property can then be sealed and, in a shared supply, the new supply will only be available to those properties modified according to the invention. If all properties on a shared supply are upgraded in this fashion, then the old single supply can be cut back at the mains to prevent leakage. Alternatively, the invention can be fitted to new supply systems. In either instance installation is a relatively simple, rapid and inexpensive operation.

Improved water supply can be achieved in older properties and less excavation is required for repairs and in leak and burst detection.

It is not essential that the composite piping of the invention be used for the intemal portion of the nun of the piping, i.e. that portion inside a property. If desired, only the inner piping with insulation, where required, may be used there. Flexible connections may conveniently be used to the mains supply below ground and where the upper portion of the piping on the wall passes into the property. Indeed, the piping itself at this internal upper position (or at the exterior-underground position) may, if the exterior sheathing is not used, be flexible.

Conveniently, if desired, the supply arrangement of the invention may also include a wall box on the exterior wall carrying the piping, the box containing a stop tap and/or meter connected to the piping. Keys to the lockable boxes may be held by the water supplier and property owner so that either party can shut off the supply if needed and meter readings can be taken without disturbing the householder.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a piping arrangement of the invention supplying water to a property; and Figure la is an illustration in plan view of a shared supply application modified according to the invention; and Figure 2 is a perspective view of a composite pipe of the invention.

In Figure 1 a house 10 with roof 11, roof space 12, and front and rear exterior walls 13,14, has an underground water supply via pipe 15 from mains 16. Pipe 15 is joined to a pipe 15A of the invention just below surface level 17. Pipe 15A is positioned adjacent wall 13 and is attached to and runs up that wall to the eaves 18. Undemeath the eaves the pipe 15A is tumed through about 900 and is connected by a T-junction 19 to the old supply pipe 20 into the water tank 21 in the roof space 12.

Old supply pipe 20 runs down through the house and goes underground at the side and adjacent rear wall 14. This pipe is now disconnected at 21 and the old undergound connection 22 is shown dotted to the mains 16.

On wall 13, is provided a lockable box 23, containing a stop tap and water meter and through which pipe 1 SA runs.

As shown in Figure la, a terraces of houses 10 is supplied from mains 16 and original underground piping 22 from the mains to the rear of each house can be disconnected when all the houses are supplied by new piping 15A of the invention.

The arrangement is neat, unobtrusive, easy to install and easy to service.

Figure 2 shows a particularly suitable composite pipe 1 5A for use in the arrangement of Figure 1. It comprises an inner plastics pipe 24, which has some flexibility in long runs, a surrounding microporous expanded plastics material insulation layer 25 and an outer tube 26 of rigid plastics material which visually resembles a rainwater downpipe.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments shown.

It can enable the connection of direct-type water heating and central heating systems. It can with advantage be used in industrial properties and in overground low cost industrial supply separation. Year-round ground supply of water can be provided, for example, in gardens, garden centres, market gardening, farming and other outdoor activities.

It is not necessary for the piping of the invention to enter a building underneath its eaves and, indeed, in many buildings this may not even be possible or it may not be the most advantageous entry position. The pipe may for example break through the brickwork of a gable end or, if there is no soffit board as such, break through the brickwork under the gutter, or perhaps even pass over and around the gutter to enter via a roof slate. Thus the piping of the invention after exit from the ground may enter a building wherever it is most convenient to do so, there being no need for it to enter the building from underground.

Claims (14)

1. A water supply system comprising piping (15) to a building (10) in which the piping is connected underground to the mains supply (16) for that building (10), characterised in that the piping (15A) emerges from underground adjacent the building (10), is attached to and runs up a wall (13) of the building (10) and enters the building (10) above ground level to connect into the water supply infrastructure (20,21) inside the building (10).

2. A water supply system according to Claim 1, characterised in that the wall (13) is an exterior wall of the building (10).

3. A water supply system according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the piping (15A) enters the roof space (12) of the building (10) and connects into cold water pipework (20) leading to a header tank (21) in the roof space (12).

4. A water supply system according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, characterised in that the piping (15A) above ground level comprises an inner pipe (24) to carry water, an intermediate layer (25) of thermal insulation and an outer tube (26) to encase the layer of thermal insulation.

5. A water supply system according to claim 4, characterised in that the outer tube (26) is of substantially rigid plastics material, aluminium or cast iron.

6. A water supply system according to Claim 5, characterised in that the inner pipe (24), intermediate layer (25) and outer tube (26) are bonded together.

7. A water supply system according to any preceding Claim, characterised in that it is retro-fitted to an existing supply system.

8. A water supply system according to Claim 7, characterised in that the piping (15A) of the invention is connected via a T-piece (19) inserted on the original supply (20) to a tank (21) and the original rising main (22) in the building (10) is sealed (21A).

9. A water supply system according to any preceding Claim, characterised in that it includes a wall box (23) to contain a stop tap and/or meter connected to the piping (15A).

10. A water supply system according to any one of Claims 7 to 9, characterised in that the system is retro-fitted to replace a shared single supply (22) from a water main (16) to a plurality of buildings.

11. Piping suitable for use with a water supply system according to any preceding claim, characterised in that the piping (15A) comprises an inner pipe (24) to cany water, an intermediate layer (25) of thermal insulation and an outer tube (26) to encase the layer of thermal insulation.

12. Piping according to Claim 11, characterised in that the outer tube (26) is of substantially rigid plastics material, aluminium or cast iron.

13. Piping according to Claim 11 or 12, characterised in that the inner pipe (24), intermediate layer (25) and outer tube (26) are bonded together.

14. A water supply system according to Claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in Figure 1 or IA of the accompanying drawings.