Public health - drainage

What can you do if you have a problem?

Information about drains and sewers and what to do if a blockage occurs.

What can you do if you have a problem?

Usually most drainage problems are a simple, one-off blockage that once cleared will cause no further problems. Dependant upon the responsibility as identified above the following courses of action are suggested:

Blocked Drain

If you have a blocked drain, which is the responsibility of the owner of the property, you may wish to try and unblock the drain yourself. A set of drain rods will usually be sufficient to clear the blockage, these can be hired from tool hire shops. If you decide to do this yourself you need to be careful that you do not damage the pipes in any way.

We provide a drainage clearance service, please see information above. Alternatively you may prefer to employ a specialist firm to undertake the work on your behalf, these companies usually advertise in the Yellow Pages or other similar directories.

Blocked Private Sewer

The advice is the same as a blocked drain for a blocked private sewer BUT the cost of the required work should be shared equally between all of the households that drain into the affected part of the sewer. (i.e. upstream of the problem)

If you are unsure then it may be possible for our Environmental Protection Officers to identify which properties are involved with the blockage.

Blocked Public Sewer

If the blocked pipe or problem is originating from a public sewer then contact Severn Trent Water who will clear the blockage free of charge. Please contact them on 0800 783 4444.

What if the problem recurs?

This may be due to unsuitable items being flushed into the system, such as disposable nappies, sanitary towels or large amounts of grease. It is good practice not to flush these items into the system.

It may be due to a defect in the pipe work such as a collapsed pipe, bad joint, tree roots growing in the pipe, etc. If this is the case it is likely that the affected area of pipe work may have to be dug up and re-laid. This can be expensive but may be covered by your house building insurance.

You may wish to have a CCTV survey carried out on the affected pipe work to identify the location and nature of the problem. There are specialist companies who can do this for you and again the cost may be covered by your house building insurance.

Our Procedure

If you contact Public Health to deal with a drainage problem then the procedure laid out below will be followed:

On receipt of a drainage complaint an officer will contact you within 2 working days.

The officer will ask you:

• How old is the affected property - pre 1937?

If the answer is Yes and adjacent properties are affected then the property may be the responsibility of Severn Trent Water Authority - contact them on 0800 783 4444.

If not then the officer will ask:

• Are any of the neighbours affected?
• Is there any history of problems with the drains?
• Do you know how many properties are on the private sewer?

The officer will identify whether the problem is a blocked private drain, private sewer or a different problem that needs to be investigated and the officer will advise you of possible remedies. The cost of the repairs are the responsibility of those properties on the affected part of the private sewer. A private drain is the responsibility of the owner.

An officer will visit you, if necessary, to identify who is on the affected system and advise all parties of their legal duties and responsibilities. A private contractor may be the cheapest option if all the affected neighbours agree to share the costs.

The officer may advise on how quickly the works must be carried out to avoid enforcement action being taken.

If no action has been taken then Legal Notices will be served to all appropriate parties. If the work is not completed within the time limit specified we will carry out the works on your behalf and will then apportion the total costs between all the affected parties.

The charge will include:

• A minimum charge of £50 per household
• Full costs for all contractors used to carry out the works.
• All Officer time spent following service of Notice

These charges can differ depending on time spent, number of visits made and the complexity of the works required. The cost of this can vary greatly with a simple drainage clearance costing about £90. Major works or repeated jetting and CCTV surveys can come to many thousands of pounds, although in this case it is likely to be covered by your buildings insurance.

Our service standards

When dealing with our Environmental Protection service regarding a drainage problem you can expect the following service and enforcement standards to be met:

• We will respond to any drainage complaint within 2 working days.
• We will provide guidance on remedies. We will try to establish who is affected by the problem and advise all occupiers of the problem and their responsibilities.
• When a private sewer is still blocked after 2 working days of the Officers first response we will consider taking legal action.
• Works will be carried out in default by the Council if you or your neighbours fail to comply with the Legal Notice.
• We will recharge all the necessary occupiers for these works.

Misconnection

This is the term used when an appliance such as a washing machine is incorrectly connected to the storm water sewer instead of the foul water sewer. Waste water and detergents from these appliances then bypass the essential treatment process and are discharged into streams and rivers causing pollution.

If this is suspected, contact Severn Trent Water on 0800 783 4444 who will investigate to find out who exactly caused the misconnection and advise the customer accordingly.

Contact Details

Solihull Council Environmental Protection: 0121 704 8000

Severn Trent Water 0800 783 4444

Drainage - Blockages

Request for service 0121 704 6530

Out of hours 0121 704 8000

Sewer Supervisor 0121 704 6530

Cesspools & Septic Tanks

Private - request for service 0121 704 6158