Hotwater Tank Overflow Problem Leaking Cold Water - Any Suggestions?

[RuthGuy]

Hello, i wonder if anyone can help?
I have found an overflow pipe out of the side of my house that is leaking cold water. I think it has only been trickling for a few days but cant be sure. It has been long enough for it to seep through the wall at ground level where the drip lands.
The pipe dripping comes from an overflow (i think) from the hotwater tank. We have a hot water tank upstairs and an oil boiler downstairs that powers it. I dont know enough about any of this to know what to do now! I have directed the drip into a drain as a temporary measure but I can see i need to solve the problem!
All suggestions welcome!

[thedoctor]

First of all you need to establish what kind of water system you have, then you can start to unravel the probelm. Take a look at our pages on hot and cold water systems to see if you can identify your system. If you understand how your system works it is a whole lot easier to track a fault and rectify it.

https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/do ... ystems.htm
https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/di ... ystems.htm

Then follow the pipe that is leaking back to the tank it comes from. If it has a ballcock valve as we suspect, the solution is fairly simply. You may need to adjust the balvalve as shown on this page.

https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/co ... valves.htm

It may even be that this overflow pipe is coming from your toilet. This is also covered on the page above.

I do hope this lot helps, please come back and let us know how you get on.