Frequently Asked Questions

If your home has been modernised since 1970 and all the pipework has been replaced between NI Water’s stop valve outside your home and the kitchen tap, there should be no lead on your property.

If your home was built before 1970, it may have lead pipes; after 1970 it is unlikely to have lead pipes. If you are unsure, you can make the following simple checks:

Inside Your Home

Look in or behind the cupboards in your kitchen. You may also need to look in other places, such as the cupboard under the stairs. Find the pipe leading to the kitchen tap. Check if it is lead along as much of its length as possible. Unpainted lead pipes are dull grey, and the surface feels soft. If you scrape the surface gently with a kitchen knife, you will see the shiny, silver-coloured metal beneath.

Outside Your Home

Open the flap of the stop valve outside your property. Examine the pipe leading from the stop valve to the property. If you can, scrape its surface gently with a knife. (In some cases it may be out of reach.)

If you have lead pipes between the stop valve outside your home and your kitchen tap, the best solution is to replace it with copper or plastic pipes. Make sure that the removal of lead pipes does not reduce electrical safety – if your electricity supply is earthed to the pipes it will need to be earthed by another method. If in doubt, ask an approved electrical contractor.

If you do replace your part of the service pipe , you can ask us to replace our part between the water main and the boundary of your property. We will do this free of charge.

You can also take some simple short-term precautions.

Do not drink water that has been standing in the pipes for long periods, for example overnight or for several hours while no one has been at home.

In these circumstances, clear the water that has been standing in the pipes by flushing the toilet or filling a washing-up bowl from the kitchen tap. (If you have more than 40 metres (132 feet) of lead pipe , you will need to run more than a bowlful of water.) Don’t waste the water – use it on the garden or for something other than drinking or cooking.

Orthophosphoric treatment has not produced any adverse effects in the UK.

You may notice some slight change in the coating left on the inside of your kettle, but orthophosphoric acid will not change the taste, colour or odour of your drinking water.

Orthophosphoric acid has been approved for use in the treatment of drinking water and is used by the UK water industry.

The introduction of orthophosphoric acid to drinking water will add to the overall levels of phosphates in the environment in Northern Ireland. High levels of phosphate can increase growth of algae in lakes and estuaries. Algae uses up oxygen and reduces light in the water; this can affect the health and diversity of fish and plant life. Our larger wastewater treatment works have treatment stages, which reduce the levels of phosphates being discharged to the environment.

During long spells of cold weather regular heating of your home is the most effective way of stopping indoor pipes freezing.Pipes and tanks should also be insulated against frost, especially in the following places:

• Pipe work in roof spaces and other exposed places
• The top and sides of the cold water cistern (water tank)
• External taps and pipes, and the toilet cisterns in outside toilets. Try fixing flaps of carpet or similar draught-stoppers at the top and bottom of the door to the outside toilet

Keep your pipes as warm as possible in other ways:

• Stop draughts near pipes and cisterns
• Close windows
• Put a small heater near pipes that are likely to freeze (but never use an electric, gas or paraffin heater in the roof space)

Turn your taps off properly, especially last thing at night, and repair dripping taps or faulty toilet cisterns to prevent ice forming in the waste pipe and causing flooding.

If a pipe bursts you need to cut off the incoming water supply at the stopcock. and open all taps to drain the system quickly. Check all stopcocks to make sure they work properly.

The main stopcock turns off the cold water supply from the mains into your home. It’s normally under the kitchen sink but may be elsewhere in the kitchen, bathroom, hall or garage.

The controlling stopcock for a cistern is usually at or near the cistern. The cistern may be on the roof, in the attic space or in a room or cupboard.

If there is a stopcock for the hot water supply, it is usually in the cylinder cupboard, on the pipe that enters the cylinder near the bottom. This stopcock controls the flow of water into the cylinder but does not normally empty it. If you need to empty the cylinder, call a plumber.

If your house is unoccupied for more than 24 hours, leave the central heating on for short periods to maintain a reasonable temperature, especially during periods of severe weather or drain the system by:

• turning off the main cold water stopcock
• opening all the taps
• flushing all toilet cisterns
• draining pipework through the draining taps. You should find these at the lowest points of your water system

If you do not leave your central heating on, then drain this system also.

NI water offers a range of discretionary desludging services to customers who have septic tanks, treatment plants or cesspools which receive domestic waste.

Customers can request one free discretionary desludge in any given twelve month period providing our service conditions can be met. Should you require a second desludge within the twelve months this will be charged for. Details of charges are available on Waterline (0845 744 0088) and on our website (www.niwater.com).

We offer two different types of service to customers:

Option 1 – Standard Septic Tank Desludge

includes removal and treatment of up to 4.5m3 or 990 gallons of sludge within twelve working days

Option 2 – Domestic Treatment Plant Desludge

Includes the removal and treatment of up to 4.5m3 or 990 gallons of sludge within twelve working days

Under the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006, “trade effluent” is defined as:

1. any liquid, either with or without particles of matter in suspension in the liquid, which is wholly or partly produced in the course of any trade or industry carried on at trade premises: and
2. in relation to any trade premises, means any such liquid which is so produced in the course of any trade or industry carried on at those premises; but does not include domestic sewage.

The control of trade effluent discharges to sewers is necessary to prevent:

• harm to the health and safety of personnel working within the sewerage system, or to those people living and/or working near the receiving sewer;
• damage to the fabric of the sewerage infrastructure;
• interference with the effective and economic treatment of the mixed sewage at the receiving waste water treatment works;
• the products of the waste water treatment works, in the form of effluent, sludge or other residues, to have an unacceptable impact on water resources and the environment;
• an unacceptable frequency of storm sewage discharges to watercourses.

Before a trade effluent may be discharged to the public sewer system the consent of NIW must be obtained. This consent is issued under the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.

No discharge of trade effluent will be permitted until a consent has been granted.

The process involves the completion of two forms –

• a Trade Effluent Notice (TEN)
• a Trade Effluent Questionnaire

A Trade Effluent Application Pack is available at http://www.niwater.com/siteFiles/resources/word/TE31_-_TRADE_EFFLUENT_APPLICATION_PACK.doc.

The amount due to Northern Ireland Water of each charging period shall be calculated by multiplying the total volume of trade effluent discharged by the occupier during that period by the charge per cubic metre derived from the application of the Mogden Formula:

R + V + Ot B + St S = C
         Os     Ss

Where

R = Reception and conveyance charge per cubic metre, as assessed from time to time by Northern Ireland Water.

V = Volumetric and primary treatment charge per cubic metre, as assessed from time to time by Northern Ireland Water.

Ot = Average chemical oxygen demand measured in milligrams per litre, of the trade effluent after one hour’s quiescent settlement at pH 7.

Os = Average chemical oxygen demand of settled sewage, as assessed from time to time by Northern Ireland Water.

St = Average suspended solids in the trade effluent, measured in milligrams per litre, after adjustment to pH 7.

Ss = Average suspended solids in crude sewage, as assessed from time to time by Northern Ireland Water.

B = Basic charge, as assessed from time to time by Northern Ireland Water, for the biological treatment of one cubic metre of sewage with an average chemical oxygen demand

S = Basic charge, as assessed from time to time by Northern Ireland Water, for the treatment and disposal of one cubic metre of sewage with an average weight of solids in suspension.

C = Total charge to the discharger per cubic metre of trade effluent discharge during the period.

The chargeable trade effluent volume can be assessed in one of two ways:

• a flow meter that measures the volume and rate of effluent discharged to sewer.
• the incoming metered water (in cubic meters) after deduction of domestic usage and any non-return to sewer allowances (if applicable). Domestic usage is based on the number of employees and whether a canteen is available that provides cooked meals on the premises.

Thesampled strength of trade effluent is usually taken from the average of results of samples taken for compliance monitoring during a six-month period. The parameters used are the settled COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) (Ot) and the Total Suspended Solids (St).

No, NI Water do not add fluoride to drinking water in Northern Ireland. Your local supply, however, may contain naturally occurring fluoride that is found in underlying rock strata from where it finds its way into rivers lakes and reservoirs.

Responsibility for fluoridation of the public water supply is ultimately a matter for the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS)