Drains and Sewers
| Service Deliverer: |
Havant Borough Council |
| Contact: |
Please call at Reception in the Civic Offices Foyer. Enquiries
may be made Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm. |
| Telephone No: |
Customer Services 023 9244 6017 or
see contacts list below >> |
| Address: |
Havant Borough Council, Civic Offices, Civic Centre Road,
Havant, PO9 2AX |
| Email: |
customer.services@havant.gov.uk |
| Details: |
Private drains and sewers are the responsibility of the owners
of the properties which drain through them. All matters pertaining
to public sewers are dealt with by Southern Water Services Limited.
NOTE It has been proposed that
significant changes to the responsibility of private owners and
Southern Water be introduced in April 2011.
The Council's Environmental Health team will investigate
problems and offer advice as part of its Public Health duty.
However please note that we rarely have information about the
routes of drainage serving your individual property, and it might
be quicker and easier to get a private contractor to find
this out for you.
|
What is a drain?
A drain is a pipe which conveys either foul water (sink / bath /
toilet etc.) or surface water (rain) from one house only.
The owner or occupier of a
house is solely responsible for maintaining a drain, clearing
blockages and repairing any faults. Even where the drain extends
outside the boundary of the property (for example under the road or
under a neighbour's garden) the owner or occupier of the house
served by the drain is still responsible, right up to the main
public sewer (
see diagram below). Individual direct
connections to the public sewer (known as 'laterals') are always
private.
What is a sewer?
A sewer is a pipe which conveys either foul water or surface water
from more than one house. A sewer may be either
PUBLIC or PRIVATE, and can carry
clean ('surface') or dirty ('foul') water. In this area, the two
systems (foul and surface) are mostly separate.
- A Public Sewer is a
sewer adopted and maintained by (in this area) Southern Water >>. Such
sewers are usually found under the highway, but can in fact be
anywhere. A sewer under a highway is not automatically a
public sewer. The Council and Southern Water hold copies of the
Public Sewer Maps showing the locations of public sewers. If a
sewer is not shown on the Public Sewer Map it will be assumed
private unless you can prove otherwise.
- A second type of Public
Sewer was one built as a private sewer before 1
October 1937 but then, as a result of a change in the law,
became the responsibility of Southern Water. Plans of this type of
public sewer seldom exist, so each case has to be assessed by
Southern Water using the evidence available. A site survey (by
Southern Water) will often be required.
- A Private Sewer is
the responsibility of the owners or occupiers of the houses it
serves. This means that the owners or occupiers of all houses
upstream of a blockage or defect are all responsible for clearance
or repair. If you live in rented accommodation you should contact
your landlord to clarify your responsibilities regarding sewers
serving the property you are renting.
To try to explain this further,
consider the two blocks of houses in the following diagram. House
numbers 1, 3, 5 and 7 were built in 1936 and numbers 9,
11, 13 and 15 were built in 1938. If a blockage occurs at "A",
clearing it will be the responsibility of Southern Water, since any
pipe serving more than one property built before 1st October 1937
is automatically a public sewer. However, if a blockage occurs at
"B", clearing it will the responsibility of the owners of numbers
9, 11 and 13 even though it is in the garden of number 13. In
fact, even if blockage "B" occured under the road or footpath, it
would still be the responsibility of the owners of 9, 11 and
13 to clear, since pipes serving properties built after 1st October
1937 are private until they connect to the public sewer, however
far from the properties that may be.
NOTE: this
will change in April 2011,
see below for more information.
If my property has a private drain or
sewer, why do I pay Sewerage Charges?
The term 'sewerage'
refers to the infrastructure (pipes, drains, sewers, pumping
stations, Waste Water Treatment Works etc.), not the liquids
(sewage) they contain. The bulk of the Sewerage
Charge is spent on treatment and disposal of foul sewage at a
network of Waste Water Treatment Plants. Most of the Borough drains
to Budds Farm in Southmoor Lane, although Emsworth drains to
Thornham in West Sussex. The Sewerage Charge is also
spent on the maintenance of the public sewer network into which the
private systems connect.
If you can prove that surface water
from your property does not drain to the public sewer, for example
that it drains to a soakaway, then you can obtain an exemption of
the surface water part of the Sewerage Charge. Contact Southern
Water to arrange this. You are only exempt the foul sewerage change
if your property drains to a cess pit.
When I bought my property, the Search
said the property was connected to the public sewer. Don't I have a
private sewer or drain?
The search question only asks
whether the property is ultimately connected to the public sewer
system, for the purposes of finding out whether the Sewerage Charge
is payable by the occupants. It doesn't ask for the method of
connection, which is irrelevant to the payment of the Charge. Every
property will have at least a private drain, and properties built
after 1st October 1937 will probably have lengths of private sewer
as well.
Where can I find out what private
drains and sewers serve my property?
This information will usually be
shown on your property Deeds. Unless the property was built very
recently, the Council will have no record of the private drainage
serving your property (we would only know the route through the
Planning Permission issued for the property when it was built). If
the information is not shown in your Deeds, you will have to
organise a private survey to trace the routes of the pipe
work.
Who is responsible if I rent my property?
If you rent your property and have a problem with the sewerage, you
should contact your landlord.
What can I do if my drain or private sewer blocks?
During the normal working week, the Environmental Health service
can, in most cases, clear the blockage by rodding, for which a
charge is payable.
A
list of charges is available here >>. Alternatively, you
may choose to employ a private contractor who, in addition to
rods, may have powered jetting equipment which is sometimes
preferable; there is a wide choice to be found in
Yellow
Pages>> under "Drain and Pipe Cleaning". Always ask for a
quote before employing any contractor, and check whether your
household insurance will cover the cost.
Where several houses are affected by
a blockage in a private sewer you should try to agree to share the
cost with each householder before employing a contractor. The
Council will not become involved in disputes where householders
cannot agree between themselves the sharing of these costs.
What can I do if a public sewer blocks?
Public sewers are the responsibility of Southern Water.
Telephone them on
0845 278 0845 to report the
blockage, giving as much information about the problem as you can
or email them at
customerservices@southernwater.co.uk.
What happens if my drain or private sewer requires repair?
You should arrange for repair by a contractor. The cost of repair
to a private sewer should be shared by the various householders
which the sewer serves.
Your Buildings Insurance Policy may
cover the cost of repairs - look under the "Accidental Damage to
Services" clause in your Policy. Alternatively there are a number
of repair policies commercially available, often offered by the
water companies themselves.
What happens if I don't clear the blockage or carry out
repairs?
Havant Borough Council has public health powers under various
Acts of Parliament including the Building Act 1984, the
Public Health Act 1961 and the Local Government (Miscellaneous
Provisions) Act 1976 - these allow us to demand the clearing
of blockages or carrying out any repair works in the private
part of the drainage / sewerage network. This is done by the
Council serving a legal Notice on the relevant owners. Failure to
comply with this Notice is an offence, which can lead to
prosecution. If the owners do not comply with the Notice, the
repairs may be carried out by the Council in default with the full
costs being recovered from the owners.
What do I do if a road gully
blocks?
Road gullies on the public highway
are the responsibility of the highway authority, Hampshire County
Council, to maintain. Road gullies are designed to only drain the
highway, so it is not permissible to direct water from your
property directly into them.
Hampshire County
Council Highways organises the cleansing of every road gully
and drain on a rota basis, so that each gully is cleaned at least
once a year. In between cleans, it is possible for a gully to block
(especially in areas with lots of trees, in the autumn) so report
any requirements for special cleans to Customer Services by
email to
roads@hants.gov.uk or if
urgent by telephone on
0845 603 5633.
In a small number of instances a
gully may be in a private area (such as a garage compound), in this
case it will be for the landowner(s) or landlord (if properties are
rented) to maintain.
Can the Council offer advice?
Yes. The Environmental Health team will be pleased to investigate
problems and offer advice as part of its Public Health duty.
However please note that we rarely have information about the
routes of drainage serving your property, and it might be quicker
and easier to get a private contractor to find this out for you. If
you have any queries, do not hesitate to make contact either by
email to
customer.services@havant.gov.uk
or by telephoning
(023) 9244 6017.
How will the ownership of drains and
sewers change in future?
The Government
announced on
the 15th December 2008 that from April 2011 all private sewers and
lateral drains that connect to the public foul sewer
system will transfer into the ownership of the local water and
sewerage company - in Havant's case, this is Southern Water.
This will remove the burden of maintenance and repair from
householders and allow for a more integrated sewerage network. The
cost of these additional responsibilities for Southern Water will
be funded by a rise in the Sewerage Charge.
The new arrangements are shown by
reference to the following diagram. Compare this with the diagrams
showing the
current situation above. The houseowner
is only going to be responsible for blockages and repairs on the
blue (thin) line - that is, to a private drain within the boundary
of the particular property which that pipe serves. A blockage on
sewers and laterals outside of the property boundary (i.e. on a
thick red line on the diagram below) will be the
responsibility of Southern Water. The age of the property
(before or after 1936) will be irrelevant under the new
arrangements.
Who can I contact?
Environmental Health
- advice and chargeable services for private drains and
sewers
Havant Borough Council
Havant
Hampshire
PO9 2AX
Telephone: (023) 9244 6017
Southern Water Services Ltd - public foul
water and surface water sewers only
Telephone 0845 278 0845
Hampshire County Council Highways - road
drains and gullies on the public highway only
Telephone 0845 603 5633
Hermitage Housing (Havant)
- tenants in the Havant area
33 East Street
Havant
Hampshire
PO9 1AA
Telephone: (023) 9279 4500
Hermitage Housing
(Waterlooville) - tenants in the Waterlooville area
Parchment Property Services
Unit 3, Southmoor Lane
Havant
Hampshire
PO9 1JW
Telephone: (023) 9248 4355
Tenants of other landlords should
contact their landlord direct - the numbers of some of the larger
providers in the Borough can be found on our
partner
contacts page.