Sewage backflowing into my house through drain when it rains.

Korkyb

Hi all

Hope this is in the correct place.

I've lived in an old 2 storey house near the bottom of a hill down which runs a road for 10 years. Downstairs there is a shower room / toilet & the house borders directly onto the pavement. (The house was built in 1895).

Its a small rural village (population 400ish) and there has been a fair amount of development / new houses built since we moved in. (Around 70 houses built so far with more planned).

We had no problems for the 1st 5 or 6 years then around 4 or 5 years ago we had a couple of incidents where when it rained particularly heavily we had water come up through the shower and into the house. The water at that time wasnt particularly smelly and Scottish Water who are responsible for the drains / sewers round our way said that my house drain was connected to the storm drains on the road. Thankfully they did the work to connect us to the correct sewer without any hassle (or cost).

Again we had no issues for a few years but for the past 6 months the water has reappeared - thankfully it hasnt breached the shower tray (yet) but this time the water is stinking.

It also seems to be getting worse, over the last few weeks it has been happening whenever it rains & even a light shower has an effect.

Its an old village apparently the storm drains from the road come down the hill and into the "sewer" at some point so the rain water is mixing with the household sewage.

Scottish Water have sent a chap to check the drains and they are clear - he reckons (as we suspected) that the new housing is pushing the local drainage to its limit and that when it rains the water is just looking for the path of least resistance.


Its been a 5 or 6 weeks or so since I contacted Scottish Water and I'm led to believe that someone is supposed to be doing a "survey" of the issue this week.


To be fair Scottish Water have been pretty good (both 5 years ago and so far this time).

I just want to be prepared for any suggestions they might (or might not have).

- What are my rights with regards to the problem

- What responsibilities do Scottish Water have?

- Any ideas about how this problem might be solved?


Apologies for this post turning into a bit of a War & Peace epic :-)

Cardew

Water supply responsibilities in Scotland might be different to England and Wales. However between Scottish water and the local Council they obviously have a responsibility to ensure your drains work in a satisfactory manner.

New houses in England would almost certainly have any surface water going into soakaways to prevent exactly the problem you are having.

I suggest you contact the Environmental Health department of your local council for help and advice; or perhaps the Consumer Council for Water http://www.ccwater.org.uk/

Korkyb

Thanks Cardew

I'm not sure if the new houses have soakaways.

Most of the water that comes down the hill when it rains appears to be coming off the road and pavements (Its a fairly big / steep hill).

I'll give Scottish Water a chance & see what they come up with before I go elsewhere although if I'm not satisfied with their answer will try your suggestions.

One option that was suggested by the chappie that initially visited was a non return valve on my drain.

That would be fine (for me) but then I imagine the water would have to find somewhere else to go..... Someone elses shower :-)

quotememiserable

Scottish water are responsible for providing sufficient drainage capacity so its only them you should be on to. They don't have any particular timescale for rectifying problems though because some projects to increase sewer capacity can cost millions. However, they are responsible for cleanup after any flooding event and I think you get compensation in terms of reduced bills. Also you should ask them to provide mitigation (use that word) if they can't put in a full fix for a considerable time. A mitigation project in this case would be to fit a non-return valve (the best ones are pumped) to stop flows backing up into your property.