The story of the fake bomb detectors"The bizarre thing, as I understand it, is because it didn't work, it didn't have to have a licence. But no-one thought to mention that to the police, or to the Foreign Office and trade and industry people to stop them providing support.
"Someone somewhere made a big mistake," he says. "And I'd like to know who."
ADE 651 DeviceThe ADE 651 is a fake bomb detector that was produced by ATSC (UK), which claimed that the device could effectively and accurately, from long range, detect the presence and location of various types of explosives, drugs, ivory, and other substances. The device has been sold to 20 countries in the Middle East and Asia, including Iraq and Afghanistan, for as much as US$60,000 each. The Iraqi government is said to have spent £52 million on the devices.
Investigations by the BBC and other organisations found that the device is little more than a "glorified dowsing rod" with no ability to perform its claimed functions.
.. in my case , and in a French village, the local water supply co-op, were on a lead pipe removal kick, installed a new plastic pipe from their water main, without I think a stop cock on it, dug a hole inside my property, installed a stopcock followed by a water meter and a manhole cover over it and then proceeded the 5 metres to the inside of my house with plastic pipe to another new water valve internally... The distance inside my property that the first stopcock is about 2 metres.Interesting, as they fit the meter at the boundry here, and I have yet to have worked anywhere where the mains stop cock is within the curtilage of the property.
That thought had crossed my mind. They seemed very relaxed about ordering me to excavate a potential 75 metres of driveway based on nothing but a device constructed from wire coat-hangers stuck into a couple of empty BIC pens and which was operated by a bearded man. It was almost as though it were routine, like they are doing it numerous times per day. They still won't accept the fact that this mumbo-jumbo has no scientific basis, saying on several occasions that my home insurance would pay, which they would have done, but that's not the point.I wonder if they were just betting on a leak because they know there's been a bit of movement or systems your age often leak - or is it a total scam. It might be worth reporting it to Watchdog or Trading Standards to see if they are doing it to other people.
So, by saying "no significant leak", does that mean that there still is one?The flow meter has revealed that there is no significant water leak.
Yes, there is leakage on the supply pipe of about 20 litres per hour. The threshold for taking action is 250 litres per hour.So, by saying "no significant leak", does that mean that there still is one?
I'd call that a river.Initially the bearded biro & coat hanger man had reported the leak at 600 litres per hour.
I'm not at all bothered by 20 litres per hour water leakage. It's about 175000 litres per year. 500000 litres of water fall on my house roof each year and that now goes into soak away drains. It's a minute amount in the scheme of things and it's 10 X below the water company's threshold for asking a home owner to repai it.That would seem pretty significant to me, especially over the period of a year. It would certainly be enough to cause untold damage in respect of possible property subsidence.
If this were my property, I'd deal with it sooner rather than later.
You might want to read this. http://www.subsidencesupport.co.uk/what-causes-subsidence.html
Then being blunt, you are a fool to think that the size of the leak won't increase over time. And a fool not to take steps to repair the leak.I'm not at all bothered by 20 litres per hour water leakage. It's about 175000 litres per year. 500000 litres of water fall on my house roof each year and that now goes into soak away drains. It's a minute amount in the scheme of things and it's 10 X below the water company's threshold for asking a home owner to repai it.
The original predicted 600 litres per hour, or 5 million litres per year would have prompted me to take action.
The drive is about 75 metres in length, so the leak will be somewhere over that span. As the ground freezes and thaws over the winter, I expect the leak will become worse due to movement of the lead pipe.Must say tillson i have to agree with our mud-worshipping member above, i had a similar occurrence, there`s no if`s and buts about it, this will become a bigger and bigger problem with every week that passes, the flow will increase the water has to go somewhere. I let it go for over a year then one day noticed the paint on the back wall turning flaky, dampness where it shouldn`t have been.
Are there adjoining neighbours? The last thing you need is water around anyone's foundations.
Our Water Service guy found our leak in 15 minutes with that stethoscope thing inside our property, he then got an iron bar and spade from the van and dug down approx two feet and there it was, water gushing everywhere, corroded pipe at the junction of entering the house.
Plumber called and he made a new joint in ten minutes.
Just hope you don`t have tarmac or cement in your yard, i was lucky as the ground was earth, was reasonably easy to get to.
Then being blunt, you are a fool to think that the size of the leak won't increase over time. And a fool not to take steps to repair the leak.