Drain is filling up with water, when I'm not using any in the house. Any suggestions

woolielong

I tried to empty the water that had filled to the top of an outdoor drain - its the one that washing machine/dishwasher water goes to, not sewerage pipe. Anyway, as I was taking the water out with a jug, the water just kept rising back up. I don't know where its coming from and I didn't have any appliances on in the house when this was happening. I'm not sure what to do - contact the water supplier, or drain clearance, or a plumber? Has anyone had this experience?:eek:

spiro

I could be something like bath water that is backed up in the pipe. Sounds like the drain is blocked.

macman

Go to the next inspection chamber downstream and see if that is dry. If so, there is a blockage between the two. Then borrow some drain rods.
It's only the responsibility of the water utility if it's a shared drain.

lawfulhippo

Since October 2011, the sewerage company is responsible for anything which is shared, or not on your property. If the water is rising when you're not putting anything into it, I'd take a punt and say it's a shared drain.

The policies on how much convincing you'll need to do will differ between sewerage companies, but they're unlikely to have any maps of the sewer by your home,even if it's shared (unless it's really old), so chances are they'll come out to have a look in any case. Even if they do come out and it's private, they'll tell you about this and should give you some advice. It's worth giving them a call first as you've nothing to lose. If you call a drainage company first, they come out and you will be charged a call out, but if the problem is public, then legally they can't touch it and your call out fee won't be refunded because the SC will just say "you should have called us".

macman

lawfulhippo wrote: »

Since October 2011, the sewerage company is responsible for anything which is shared or not on your property. If the water is rising when you're not putting anything into it, I'd take a punt and say it's a shared drain.

The policies on how much convincing you'll need to do will differ between sewerage companies, but they're unlikely to have any maps of the sewer by your home,even if it's shared (unless it's really old), so chances are they'll come out to have a look in any case. Even if they do come out and it's private, they'll tell you about this and should give you some advice. It's worth giving them a call first as you've nothing to lose. If you call a drainage company first, they come out and you will be charged a call out, but if the problem is public, then legally they can't touch it and your call out fee won't be refunded because the SC will just say "you should have called us".

This is not correct. The property owner remains responsible for any drain on their property which is not shared. So you need to establish a) is it a shared drain? and b) if not, is the blockage on your property? If it's private but the blockage is beyond the boundary, then it's down to the water utility.

Cardew

macman wrote: »

This is not correct. The property owner remains responsible for any drain on their property which is not shared. So you need to establish a) is it a shared drain? and b) if not, is the blockage on your property? If it's private but the blockage is beyond the boundary, then it's down to the water utility.

Isn't that what lawfulhippo stated?

You are not responsible for a shared drain, or anything not on your property.

So by definition if it is on your property(and not shared) you are responsible.

Did you mis-read him or have I?.

macman

Cardew wrote: »

Isn't that what lawfulhippo stated?

You are not responsible for a shared drain, or anything not on your property.

So by definition if it is on your property(and not shared) you are responsible.

Did you mis-read him or have I?.

Rather depends how you read it:

'Since October 2011, the sewerage company is responsible for anything which is shared or not on your property'.

The addition of a comma after 'shared' would change the meaning to what I think was intended. I read it literally. Call me Lynne Truss...

Cardew

macman wrote: »

Rather depends how you read it:

'Since October 2011, the sewerage company is responsible for anything which is shared or not on your property'.

The addition of a comma after 'shared' would change the meaning to what I think was intended. I read it literally. Call me Lynne Truss...

Wouldn't he have just written 'everything on your property' ?

macman

Possibly. Only the OP can tell us. My comment was based on the way I perceived it, if incorrect I'll happily correct it.
To me it is ambiguous.

lawfulhippo

I've added that comma to clear up the ambiguity. Cardew is correct in his interpretation of my sentiment.

I didn't see the ambiguity when I posted, but then I knew what I meant so I wasn't confused by it!

macman

Thanks for clarifying that.