Lead water main - what to do now

[WasteOfPaint]

We moved into a house a year ago and it has a lead water main. Getting anyone to quote for replacing it has been a nightmare, but eventually I found a company who agreed to do this using moling, at a cost of £1,300. The new pipe needs to go a reasonable distance and under a driveway. When they started the work, they said it's rock under the driveway and it can't be done using moling, they said they would quote for a different method but then ghosted me.

After a lot of searching I found another company who agreed to come round - I was upfront about what had happened with the first company. They have now quoted for a method digging a trench rather than moling - £7k!

I'm really not sure what to do now. I'm not paying £7k...but also not sure what other options I have. I can try and get more quotes but it's hard to see it being affordable based on that one. Maybe some sort of filtration system would be a better plan?

Any thoughts from anyone who has experienced this issue would be welcome.

www.unitedutilities.com/help-and-support/your-water-supply/your-pipes/lead-pipes/lead-pipe-replacement-scheme/

Maybe there are some grants available?

@junglejane66 some water companies do offer grants but sadly not in my area (Wessex Water). The water company have already replaced the streetside part of the supply, so up to the boundary, that's all they will do.

Both our plumber and the water authority said it’s best left alone and only replace when it breaks. The water board (Severn Trent) tested our water and declared it safe.
The only thing ‘condemned’ was our stop cock. So the street mains had ti be turned off so a new sure-stop stop cock could be fitted above the lead piping into the house.
Cost £86.

we were also informed that should the lead pipe go, it isn’t us as homeowners who are responsible - it is the water company who supplies us.

We're moving into a house that has a section of lead piping in the cellar so I'm very interested in these replies - we'll get Thames Water in to test when we move in but I did notice on their website that they have a list of approved plumbers for this sort of work, so maybe Wessex will have the same?

@Alphabet1spaghetti2 that is very interesting and what I hope we'll have similar advice (I grew up with my parents telling me to flush the water out of the pipes first thing, so I'm fairly relaxed about this in general).

@onemouseplace we were pleasantly surprised - given this is a ‘house that jack built’ (electricity sockets and switches without wall boxes) we really expected a huge bill and a lot of hassle.
fingers are crossed that you get a similar outcome. Can highly recommend the sure-stop stop cock too!

My buildings insurance covered ours to be replaced with plastic. Trenches and all.

Does it need doing? I’ve lived with this for thirty years. I get the water board round to do a free lead test every now and then and they say it’s ok.

If the pipe is after the company stop tap (little square box in road) you can get anyone to do it.
I got my builder to do it. Had to get a special connector and then used blue pipe. The rod key thing to turn the company stop tap off can be bought online.

Took a few days to do but only because we were relaying all the drains as well.

Why do you want to replace it? I think something else will off you before your water pipe does. (We also have a lead water pipe, and a house full of asbestos. Think the risks from either are miniscule.)

We have lead pipes as well. Advice I've heard is that running the cold water for a couple of minutes in the morning before you use the cold water for drinking making/tea etc significantly reduces the amount of lead you'll end up ingesting. If you're on a water meter that will up your bills a bit, but a lot cheaper than £7k for a new pipe!