Drainage and Sewers Info
What are public and private sewers?
Public sewers are generally the larger sewers that run under the roads. These are the responsibility of your local Water plc and part of your water charges pay for the unblocking and upkeep of these sewers and the associated sewage treatment works. If the sewer which serves your house was built before 1937 it will be also be public unless you have made any alterations to it. All other sewers built after 1937 are termed private unless they have been specifically adopted by the Water Company.
Who is responsible for clearing blocked drains
and sewers?
It depends on what type of drain or sewer it is.
If the blocked sewer is public, your local Water
plc will clear it, usually free of charge; If the sewer is private, the
householders who share the sewer should clear
it at their own expense; If it is a drain that serves your house only,
you alone are responsible; If you are a tenant of a Housing Society you
should contact the Housing
Society; If you are a tenant of a rented property then the situation may
be complicated.
Please contact your local Council for advice.
Shouldn't all the other houses that use the sewer have to pay
some of the costs?
Strictly speaking, yes. The sewer is the joint responsibility of all those
houses that use it. They should pay equal amounts of the cost of any clearance.
If you do not want to be responsible
for arranging to have a sewer cleared, the Environmental Protection Team
can serve a legal notice on all of the houses involved, requiring them
to clear the sewer. If after 48 hours the sewer remains blocked, it will
be cleared and each of the houses will be charged an equal amount which
will include an administrative charge.
My sewer keeps blocking - what can I do?
If a sewer blocks regularly it may indicate that
the pipe is faulty or scaling up. To establish the cause of the fault
on the sewer a closed circuit television camera (CCTV) survey can be used
to detect where and what the problem is.
Is there anything that I shouldn't put down
my toilet or drain?
Nappies and sanitary towels should not be flushed
down the toilet. They can easily cause blockages in pipes and should be
hygienically disposed of by bagging them and putting them in the wheeled
bin.Condoms shouldn't be flushed down the toilet either. It is safer and
more hygienic to wrap the condom in toilet paper and put it in the bin.Tipping
cooking fat or oil down the sink also causes problems. Over time the fat
coats the inside of the sewer reducing the flow in the pipe and may cause
it to block. Instead, frying pans and chip fryers should be left to cool
and the bottle put in the wheeled bin. You also shouldn't flush engine
oil, paint or other dangerous chemicals down the toilet. These can cause
damage to the sewage works and cause pollution. If you have any oil to
dispose of, there are oil banks in all town centres. To get rid of other
chemicals you should
contact a chemical reclamation firm.
Rural Drainage
In many rural areas there are no main sewers. Sewage
has to be disposed of in other ways. There are various systems in use
such as cess pits, septic tanks and mini treatment works.
Septic Tanks - What is a Septic Tank?A septic tank treats
domestic sewage and discharge, either into a watercourse or into the ground.
In septic tanks the solids in the sewage settle to the bottom. Relatively
clear liquid is left which forms a layer of scum on its surface. Bacteria
feed on this liquid and
digest some of the matter in it. The liquid then either passes into another
settlement tank before passing to a watercourse or is discharged underground
through a network of pipes to filter through the soil. Septic tanks are
capable of treating all of a household's domestic sewage. However, the
solids that build up at the bottom of the tank do need to be pumped out
about once a year.
Whose responsibility is it to maintain the
septic tank?
If the tank serves only your house then you alone
are responsible for maintaining and emptying the tank. If several houses
share the tank then the responsibility is normally shared between the
owners.
If you rent your house privately, either you or your landlord may be
responsible. We advise you to check your tenancy 
agreement to see who is responsible.
Contaminated Septic Tanks
The process of digestion in the septic tank is done by bacteria. These bacteria can be killed by certain chemicals. Too much bleach, detergents and other household chemicals may destroy the useful bacteria. As a result the sewage will not be treated fully and may cause pollution problems. Emptying the septic tank regularly will ensure the septic tank keeps working properly.
Watercourse Pollution
If a septic tank is too small for the amount of sewage it takes and discharges
to a stream or river it may be causing pollution.
Cess Pits
A cess pit is simply a sealed storage tank into which sewage is drained until it can be taken away by a tanker. The sewage is not treated in the tank. Older cess pits are usually cylindrical pits lined with either brick or concrete. Modern cess pits are made from fibre glass, steel or polyethylene. Current building regulations require cess pits to be able to hold at least 18,000 litres of sewage. It is estimated that each person produces 115 litres of sewage a day. For a family of four this means that the tank will need emptying about once a month.
Blockages
Blockages can occur in the pipes leading to the tank. This can cause
sewage to back up the pipe and stop the toilet working
properly. The pipe leading from the tank may also become silted and then
block. This will prevent the tank from working properly and cause it to
fill much faster. When such blockages occur the pipes will have to be
rodded or jetted.
Leaking Tanks
Old brick tanks and cracked glass fibre tanks will sometimes let ground
water in. This often happens during the winter when
the water table is higher. The extra water means that the tank will have
to be emptied more frequently. The faulty tank will also allow sewage
to leak outwards. It is an offence to allow a tank to overflow and the
Environmental Protection department at the District Council may legally
require that the tank be repaired or emptied.
Mini Treatment Works
In poorly drained areas (eg. on clay soils) it may only be possible to
discharge to a local watercourse. As there are
strict controls on the quality of effluent that is allowed into watercourses,
a greater standard of treatment is required. Mini treatment works or biodisc
machines act in a similar way to septic tanks. They contain motorised
plastic discs which rotate through the sewage. The action of the discs
encourages much more bacterial breakdown and treats the sewage to a much
higher degree.
Discharge Consents
If your tank discharges its final effluent to a watercourse you will need to obtain a Consent for Discharge from the Environment Agency (EA). The EA sets standards for quality of effluent that can be allowed to enter rivers and streams. The quality of watercourses is monitored by the EA and they may take legal action against anyone who causes pollution.
Redwood ES Ltd.
Where You can always expect high standards of professional service, discretion and attention to detail....