Link: http://elf.calstock.org.uk/admin

The ELF trust Admin seems pretty sketchy at times, not surprisingly as most of the work is landscaping and organic food plots.

The most frequent issue is neighbour problems.

Currently they are

• Issues over abuse of water contract with Townsend's
  Link to letters ('The Townsend Tango' requires authorisation to view)
  Update on small claim
• Rubbish being dumped on the land by neighbours at Harewood Gardens
• Use of land by Okel Tor as part of the footpath they have provided to the public
• Unauthorised cutting of trees by the Kings at Trekensa Gardens
• Still have to establish proper understanding of boundary fence with owners of part Harewood House

And of course there is the planning issue.

October Update
The water has been turned of for some time now so I have called SWWater and given them a 'customer reading' of 328. The accurate reading as of 13:00 17th October is 327.6279.

It seems the pipeline does indeed hold some 350Lt and most seems to get used and does not leak away whilst the mains tap is closed and their is no pressure.

I have just written a new page on the main site detailing the amount of water used over the preceding years. This has been brought about by doubts about neighbour use and careless or accidental damage to the pipeline resulting in a noticeable leak.

Steve and I checked the meter yesterday and discovered 100ml per 30 seconds usage with taps off. This equates to a litre every five minutes (12Lt/Hr : 288Lt/Day : <35CuMetre/Quarter). A cost of some £55 per quarter.

19th May
Yesterday evening on my way to the village I turned off the water at the mains. Water was leaking at 100ml/25seconds. The reading was 0325/1656. Intend to check again this evening. Next reading

The last official reading of 311m³, an estimate, was on 23rd March The current figure is 325 so that's a use of 14m³ in 4 weeks. At that rate it will be 56 for the quarter. At £1.57 that's £88 + the standing charge.:`(

20th May
100ml/25 seconds -> 1Lt/250s -> 10Lt/2500s ->
100Lt/25,000 -> 1000Lt/250,000 sec
or 1 cubic metre in 2d 21h 26m 4s
That's 54.2592pence per day. Averaging over £49 per quarter

I am keeping the mains switched off until water is wanted and will get the next reading proper, then be more specific in calculating usage/leakage.
Method to Estimate Leak

22nd May
From the above figures, the estimates next bill of £88 + standing charge and the leakage at £49 there's still a usage of £39 which equates to nearly 25cubic metres of water. This figure maybe high due to the last reading being an estimate.
For example a 3cum under estimate will mean that the current months usage will be 3 less and then the figures for the next quarter will be reduced by 3 per month of some 9cum. Sadly I won't be able to assess this accurately as the mains is off so the next reading will not account for the same amount of leakage.

Assess the quantity of water in main pipeline:
There are two way of doing this.
1. Estimate the internal dimensions of the pipe and
2. Measure the amount by draining a full pipe.

Whereas the second is more accurate I am not in a position to store the water, or easily measure it.

So the first option will hopefully provide me with an approximate figure of how much storage I would need to keep the water from the drain of a full pipeline.

Estimate
I 'think; the pipe is Imperial 1.25 inches with an internal diameter of 1". This equates to 12.7²x 3.142 = 506m² >> 1 metre contain about 0.50Lt -> 100mm 50Lt.

Updated Length 24May 09:49
Best estimate from 1:25,000 OS map is 675m Updated

That's 338Lt. So if I get storage for 400Lt that should be fine. However in the past I'm sure there was more than 400Lt.??

If the pipe is 1.5" with approx 32mm inside diameter that would give 16x16x3.142 or 80.4Lt/100m or a total of approx 543Lt.

The later figure seems more likely, so will check the pipe diameter again, then when convenient, drain to confirm.

The extension I have fitted is MDPE 25mm SDR 11 which should have a minimum wall thickness of 3mm, giving a max of 19mm ID, so that's 2.8356sqcm and 28.356Lt/100m. This equates to some 45Lt in my extension. Check it!

 
10th June 12:24
Turned the water on basically to fill the pipe. The reading when turned off again was 326.305 minus the previous figure of 325.1567 is some 1.148 cu.metres, which is lot. I was expecting 400 to 500 although Vera may have used over 100. I used 10Lt before leaving. Will check with Vera later.

11th June 17:12 Vera has used about 200 lt and I have drained the pipe to the caravan of about 47lt. This latter measurement is in line with my estimate and I'll check it again. However that leaves about 900lt in the pipe??? -:- 12th June Vera used another 60lt.

13th June I managed to get only another 22.5 lt since Vera last opened the stop-cock.

14th June 10:53 Taken another 10lt so that means Vera has opened the stop-cock and sued more water maybe.??? Call her later.

15th June 09:16 Vera can't get any more but I have taken another 45lt.

Total taken so far: 395Lt(Me:135 Vera:260)

18th June Whilst Vera monitored down-line I opened the mains tap and let 295lt into the pipe. Vera then took 95lt and I took 185. (280lt total) Meter reading is now 326.5900

21st July Opened mains until the meter stopped and got 345Lt in the pipe. Vera took 115 LT and I have about 150Lt
17th Oct By time I opened the tap again, today approx another 60 lt have been taken. The summary being that about 325 Lt have been taken from 345 recorded.

16th May 2008
I have just, 11:06, called Plymouth County Court and have been told the papers are still with the Judge.

24th May 01:18 Just remembered a letter and got it before it was devoured by the snails. From yesterday I have been asked to 'discuss the possibility of the above case being dealt with by way of mediation'.
I have emailed to say I am looking forward to hear how this may be achieved. Full text of email.

27th May 11:14
I have just received a letter from the Small Claims section of the County Court, saying that District Judge Tromans considers the case suitable for mediation. Letter will be transcribed to main website. -:- 11:19 Called Tanya Johnson (01392 415513) as the court suggested. She wasn't available so I left a message reminding her that I sent an email a few days ago. 17:53 Have emailed her again.

29th May 10:45
Tanya called and a mediation over the phone is on the cards for 1st July between 2 and 3pm. I have since been informed that the Townsend's want a face to face meeting with the counsellor. -:- 22:42 I'm not sure if I will ask for my part to be over the phone. Will email with other queries.

18th June Tanya called today to say that she had received my authorisation for the mediation and that the Townsend's have now asked for it to be a telephone mediation.

1st July
Mediation took place as scheduled today. See mediation.htm

19th July
On 16th July I managed to salvage, form the snails, the latest court notification that the hearing proper will be at 14:30 on 30th September.

20th August
Sent a letter to May Gurney on 31st July asking for a quote to disconnect the Townsend's extension and have just called (01726 885300) to say I have no reply yet.