Water Company Stealing MY water, Help !

p00hsticks

p00hsticks wrote: »

To help make the original post more reasonable...

Sorry, that should have read "readable", not "reasonable" !

Nearlyold

OP you need to read this, all is explained, it was a Government legal requirement placed upon the water companies and applied to all property where the drains/sewers were not already "adopted" by the water company with the exception of those mentioned in this article. I have highlighted in bold the exception that may apply to you. Most property owners with un-adopted drains/sewers were only too happy for the water company to take over responsibility as it took away the worry of a potential massive bill should the sewer need extensive repairs. As a private, domestic user you can abstract up to 20m3 (4400 gallons) of water per day free of charge with your own borehole/well. Can't see why you think this is some plot to charge you for your own water. If your drains discharge into the public sewers you have to pay a sewerage/drain charge for the disposal service.

The cost of repairing private sewers and drains is set to be transferred to water companies – but at a cost. On 1 October 2011 the ownership and responsibility for the vast majority of private sewers and lateral drains will transfer to water companies, with responsibility for private pumping stations following in 2016.

Although private landowners will benefit from the transfer of maintenance and repair costs, there will be a consequential rise in water bills which OFWAT has estimated at an initial average of £5 per annum.

Water companies will also gain rights of entry onto land to maintain and repair the adopted sewers and drains and landowners who have granted easements will lose their negotiated contractual right to relocate a sewer at no cost to the landowner.

The changes being brought in through the Water Industry (Schemes for Adoption of Private Sewers) Regulations 2011 will have a significant impact on private landowners; bringing as they do both challenges and opportunities.

A private sewer is defined as a drain connected to the public sewer which serves more than one property. A lateral drain is also connected to the public sewer but serves only one property and is outside the curtilage of the property it serves.

Certain private sewer drains will not transfer however. These include those connecting to cesspits and septic tanks; those owned by railway companies; and importantly those that are within a single curtilage.

Whilst guidance is awaited to clarify what a single curtilage is, the explanatory memorandum to the 2011 Regulations states ‘where there are several businesses on one site owned by a single landlord, these are likely to be considered a single site, and the sewers within the curtilage of that site will not be transferred’. Consequently, some shopping centres and industrial estates may be outside the Regulations.

Water companies were required to serve notice of the impending transfer before 1 August 2011. This did not have to be a specific notice served on land owners but a general notice sufficed.

It is possible to appeal against adoption. The appeal needs to be lodged before the end of September 2011. One of the grounds for appeal against adoption is that the adoption would be seriously detrimental to the owner. An example of this could be landowners who currently benefit from a payment negotiated at the time of the grant of easement for the private sewer or drain, the payment being made to the landowner for relocation of the private sewer or drain under their land.

Private sewers and lateral drains connected to a public sewer before 1 July 2011 will automatically transfer to the water companies on 1 October 2011. Those connected between 1 July 2011 and the date when mandatory build standards for sewers comes into force will transfer 6 months after this date.

Any new sewers or drains built in the future will have to comply with new provisions relating to adoption. All new lateral drains and sewers (other than surface water drains) have to be the subject of an adoption agreement which will specify the standards of construction as well as provisions regarding adoption by the water company. It will therefore be important for developers to liaise with the water company to agree the terms of the adoption agreement as well as the construction requirements for the new drains and sewers.

wealdroam

Eco Child, can you please spare a moment to answer some of the questions that have been asked.

Like:

Why are you worried about S&T Water stealing your sewage?

Eco_Child

Hi folks,
Firstly I want to thank you,for your support.

To have such swift response, ~really means a heck of a lot... As I've been struggling with this awful dillema since before Christmas, Nov 2015 , and the stress has been building up with each succedding letter to such an extent, it was making me ill...

so again, my heartfelt thanx ...

Having made various phone calls, through out the day ie, Citizens Advice, and the Consumer Council for Water...

I was advised to phone the Welsh water board, directly, to find out if they were aware of the
company that was causing me such grief...

The water board, had no idea who they were !

So I, then, phoned my local council, to find out,
if their logo was being used, boguslly on the headed paper of the letters I was receiving ...

Turns out the company is legit.... It is, Not, however, a water provider, but a water testing facility, connected with the council, and, apparently, so I was told, they required the information in the questionaire, to ensure my water was safe from contamination, or some such....

Upon querying their motive, I was told that I was not being assailed with these letters so they could take over my water supply....

I am now awaiting a letter from them, confirming this.

So, hopefully, having almost throttled me to death, with these, increasingly, intimidating letters ...
I will no longer be bothered by these people ....

Nearlyold

Glad it's all sorted for you, but have to say that all the "grief" you believe you have suffered does appear to be of your own making, next time you get a letter about anything, before jumping off at the deep end with thoughts of companies conspiring against you, take a deep breath, read the letter thoroughly, if necessary do a bit of research to establish the real facts and you'll find life a lot less stressful.

Eco_Child

You are ~So, right ..... hangs head in shame ...
I did go off the deep end, rather, its just there's so much going round 'bout the increasing sophistication of scammers and so forth , not to mention.... the constant refrain of

THE GOVERNMENTS OUT TO GET US ! :eek:

Got me awaiting the harsh inevitability of the Sh*t hitting the fan sooner or later....

timbstoke

Eco_Child wrote: »

Got me awaiting the harsh inevitability of the Sh*t hitting the fan sooner or later....

If you let the water company adopt your sewer, it won't be your problem what happens to the sh*t :rotfl: