Advice on Illegally installed water tanks

[Scotdebs]

Hi I'm new to the forum and hope someone can help.

 

 

I discovered today - following a leak through my ceiling - that my water tank has been illegally installed

- the engineer isolated it immediately and told me what would need to be done to make it safe again

( in summary a pipe that should have been fed to outside wall was just cut and left in cupboard to drip - hence the leak)

 

 

we have been in the house since it was built

- a few years ago now

- and so I called Cala (the builders) who advised they would send someone out to write a report on it

and then they would advise if they would fix it.

 

 

I don't think they are going to deny that it's their responsibility but they just don't seem to be in any hurry

they won't get someone out until next week and then who know how long it will take to process report etc.

 

 

in the meantime I am left without any hot water and 2 small children.

 

 

What kind of pressure can I out on them to hurry up and would paying for the work to be done myself

and then pursuing them for compensation be an option or more hassle than being without hot water for a while

 

Many thanks

[dx100uk]

cant you put a bucket under it or run it to a sink and turn the water on?

 

 

its not anything serious simply an over flow pipe I would assume.

 

 

dx

[Scotdebs]

No it is quite serious it's the the outlet that enables scalding hot water (90 degree) to come out of the tank via the safety valve and therefore should run to an external wall not just to the floor and ceiling -also in the event of a serious fault with the tank the safety valve would empty the entire tank via this pipe - with gallons of scalding hot water coming through the ceiling. It's so serious in fact that 3 plumber that have looked at it (whilst waiting on the cala plumber to appear) have been horrified and one has told me to report them another has told me to contact the papers - but I would just like cala to resolve this quickly without having to resort to all that

[dx100uk]

blimeythats the conderser outlet

 

 

 

 

that's very bad

 

 

dx

[king12345]

And they call themselves engineers...

[f16]

It sounds to me (from the information provided)

 

 

That you have an "un-vented" hot water cylinder such as a Megaflo.

This system requires no cold water storage and works on cold mains pressure water going direct to the cylinder.

 

 

The pipe that the original "plumber" (cowboy) failed to connect is the "pressure relief pipework" which is connected after the pressure relief valve (PRV).

 

 

There are 2 methods of running the pipe.

1. To an outside wall.

2. Via an "in line" trap or "reed valve" to the waste outlet on a bath or direct to the soil vent pipework.

 

 

Your plumber is correct it is very dangerous the way it has been left.

 

 

The original "plumber" should be reported.

[SabreSheep]

I seem to recall in my neck of the woods a similar situation was not discovered and reported to the papers after a baby was caught in the boiling water deluge that occured.

 

It is very serious!!

[julesverne]

It sounds to me (from the information provided)

 

 

That you have an "un-vented" hot water cylinder such as a Megaflo.

This system requires no cold water storage and works on cold mains pressure water going direct to the cylinder.

 

 

The pipe that the original "plumber" (cowboy) failed to connect is the "pressure relief pipework" which is connected after the pressure relief valve (PRV).

 

 

There are 2 methods of running the pipe.

1. To an outside wall.

2. Via an "in line" trap or "reed valve" to the waste outlet on a bath or direct to the soil vent pipework.

 

 

Your plumber is correct it is very dangerous the way it has been left.

 

 

The original "plumber" should be reported.

As a heating engineer and from details you have posted I concur. Get on the phone to them everyday everyhour if need be try and hurry them up. Take photo's and keep all details of any communication.

[Scotdebs]

Thanks all they have now fixed the pipe but I am now chasing them for repairs to ceiling where water had started to come through and also an explanation of how this massive lapse in safety occurred - it's seems it's just by the grace if god there was no overflow and serious damage to the house or injury to any of us. The plumbing company that they had subcontracted the work to have since gone bust (unsurprisingly perhaps) so not really sure who I would report to who - but just thinking about what could have happened gives me the horrors

[f16]

What make of cylinder ?

 

The "engineer" should have completed a commissioning cert and signed it.

Do you have that ?

 

Are there any electrical connections ie. Immersion heaters . ... And has that work been signed off ?