RE: Advice required on wiring in the garden

["James Hoye" <james.hoye@xxxxxxx>]

> Option 2 is to use the water pipe just for the low voltage stuff and
> use armoured mains cable.  I only really want to dig one trench so
> the mains cable would be touching the outside of the water pipe.  Is
> this any better or are both schemes flawed?
>
> Your thoughts and suggestions would be much appreciated.

My suggestion would be to bury 4" drainpipe (or something similar)
between
the house and where ever.  Use SWA mains cable which has sufficient
mechanical protection in its own right alongside the CAT5/whatever (SWA
does
not require a separate physical barrier to separate it from LV cable).  Use
solvent weld, silicone or something similar when you need to join the duct,
and lay it on a gravel bed to assist drainage.

Bringing it out of the ground may be a little trickier - you need to ensure
that water cannot enter via the cable entry/exit points - gravity can be a
good friend here!  ALternatively, take it through the wall, ensuring you
pump plenty of silicone into the gap between the pipe and wall to prevent
water ingress.

James H