I moved into a house with a blue poly pipe coming up under the stairs but nobody knows where it goes. I put water into the pipe but it filled up pretty quickly and doesn't drain away. It was suggested I get a long flexible rod just to push down there to see how far it goes - if it's 7m or so then chances are it goes to the road and I can use it to get a new main installed. So I need a recommendation for something suitable bearing in mind I'm only ever going to use it once for this and it may only go a couple of metres, so something cheap n cheerful would be ideal. thanks!
Putting a " rod' down it will not tell you if its damaged ,jointed to another open ended pipe , or anything else. Probably not a good idea to connect to mains.
Somebody could have put that pipe in while they were doing groundwork, new driveway, etc to do as a future new water mains. But it might have just been put in as a sleeve for future wiring or pipe, so difficult to trust it. It could be damaged or full of debris and hazardous to use as drinking water.
Thanks all, I ran a hose down there and it got stuck after about 4m. This isn't enough to take it to the road where the main is, but also more than just the edge of the house. My best guess is it goes to the outside tap as that's about the right distance. Guess it's best to ignore this if I plan a new mains connection.
If it goes to the outside tap blow down the pipe as if blowing up a balloon, with the tap open there should be no resistance.