PLUMBING EXPERTS PLEASE HELP ME FIGURE THIS OUT!

[Samosamo]

Today my brother has had a lead pipe burst. It was encased in cement/concrete. The layer of concrete/cement was about 1 cm below the flooring, so pretty thin.

The thing is we don't know why it burst. It is unlikely due to age because the parts which didn't burst don't look rotten due to age.

We'd like to have your ideas so we can look into it to prevent anything like this happening again. It was a mains pipe, so the damage is quite severe.

Thanks all. Please let me know if you have any ideas at all.

Thanks!!!

Can't answer your question but if it is the mains supply I would look to replace it completely as you will be ingesting lead. (which is not good!)

Have you changed any aspect of the plumbing, e.g. boiler, radiators? I have noticed that the original pipework here is much smaller in diameter so the flow is much stronger in the new pipes. This could set up other pressure points in older pipes.

If it's lead, then it's old. I was told that older pipework tends to go in bursts rather than all leaking at once.

The lead pipe will be lined with limescale, the water will not touch the lead pipe , so no ingestion.

The lead pipes I’ve removed before are really thick, but it could just have been a faulty in the pipe when it was made or maybe damaged when it was being installed years ago ?

It could be time to think about renewing it ?