Victorian drains ownership and repair issues

Ibkttd

We are in a pickle. Our old Victorian sewerage system is starting to fail.

It seems to be such a rare situation that no one really knows the answer and so I thought I would ask on here... Here is some context.
We are one end of a four house terrace. Our waste goes into an old soak-away that we share with two of the other houses. We believe that it is a crevice in limestone.
The access point is located in the middle house's patio. So they have our waste pipes coming into a central pipe.

Every year it gets a bit backed up and we have either rodded it or had it flushed through with success.
We do not pay sewerage rates.
This year rodding and flushing is not working and obviously we are all concerned because while it is still draining, the level is close to the top of the access point, and therefore our neighbours back door.

Welsh water will not help because they say that it is a private sewer.
We have had CCTV down there and they cant see much because the pipes have water in them.

We dont know if we should try to excavate the pipe (we dont know where it goes, or how far, or it if it even on one of our properties or not) or whether we should try to connect to the mains.

Has anyone had any experience with anything like this and who is responsible, what we should do and what happens if, like us, one of the neighbours is elderly and does not have any money to sort this out?

Katie

Doozergirl

If the drain starts at your house and nobody else flows into yours then it is private sewer on your land. If it crossed into your neighbour's land and then onto a mains sewer, then it becomes public at the point it crosses onto your neighbour's land and is the responsibility of Welsh Water.

But if, as you suggest the drain goes to your neighbours land and genuinely into a 'soakaway' (which sounds more than a bit concerning to me, but I'm a city girl) that does not connect to Welsh Water then it is private.

Victorian drains are really past their sell by date.

I don't know about cesspits, which I think might be what you mean, but if the drains are backed up on your neighbour's land also, then it sounds like it's a collective issue and that you need to start working back towards your house from the 'soakaway', rather than starting at your house and heading down.

I'm sure some rural folk can help better than me

DaftyDuck

As a rural folk myself:D, how often is the system emptied? If it isn't emptied, where does it flow to :eek:?

If it isn't regularly emptied, that would be the sensible first step. If it does just mysteriously disappear, I would be planning for a new (expensive) installation!

jbainbridge

Ibkttd wrote: »

Our waste goes into an old soak-away that we share with two of the other houses. We believe that it is a crevice in limestone.

A good start would be working out what sort of system you have. I doubt all the waste goes into a soak away - at least I hope it doesn't.

I guess it could be a septic tank AND soak away? Has it ever been emptied?

Wookey

Your probably looking at getting it pumped out and an examination done to find out exactly what it is and where it goes, chances are there is an old brick built septic tank somewhere that has been covered over with a concrete slab or some such.

If it is a septic tank then pumping it out every 6 months is probably in order when there are 4 houses connected to it. Human and kitchen waste just doesn't disappear so it has to be going somewhere.

teneighty

If it is the original Victorian drainage it is probably a cesspit. However, due to neglect it has possibly developed a leak or an outlet drain added at some time to avoid pumping it out. So it is probably just letting raw sewage run out into the surrounding soil and groundwater.

You will need to pay to have it pumped out so it can be inspected to assess what remedial work you and your neighbours need to arrange.