Private Pumping Station

brentcloning

We are in the process of buying a house and everything was going well! However, today the Drainage and Water enquiry came back and there is a private pumping station in the front garden.

This has concerned me as I do not want to be responsible for the repair and maintenance but I have read that most of these private stations were transferred to public ownership in 2016. My concern is that they knew about this station and didn't take ownership of it, so it may mean if I bought the house I would be responsible for it.

I'm guessing that the best thing will be for me to commission a specialist drainage survey to see if this pumping station would be eligible to be looked after by Severn Trent Water.

Is there any other steps I could take? Or any advice from people who have been in a similar situation.

Thank you.

EachPenny

The first question is whether it is a shared system, or only serves the property you are looking at.

If shared, then are the other users liable for part of the costs, and is there any maintenance agreement in place?

brentcloning

From the plan and the report provided, I can't tell to be honest. It doesn't mention anything about it being shared. Text below:

"The public sewer map indicates that there is a private pumping station or ancillary sewer apparatus within 50m of a building within the property. It is likely the property owner will be responsible for the maintenance of this. Please note there may also be a pressurized rising main associated with the pumping station with may not be mapped."

ProDave

Start by asking the vendor for details.

Speaking as somebody not connected to the public sewer and being responsible for a treatment plant and pumping system, it would not bother me too much,

Not the most pleasant job replacing the pump when it breaks (when, not if) but you can always pay someone else to do your "dirty work"

EachPenny

brentcloning wrote: »

"The public sewer map indicates that there is a private pumping station or ancillary sewer apparatus within 50m of a building within the property. It is likely the property owner will be responsible for the maintenance of this. Please note there may also be a pressurized rising main associated with the pumping station with may not be mapped."

That text doesn't really help you much as "indicates...within 50m" doesn't even mean the pumping station has to be within the property you are looking at. But if you have seen there is one in the front garden that is obviously a good sign there is one!

You will need to get a lot more information than you already have. Don't assume it is adopted because others were - there are a lot which don't fall within the criteria which applied to the 2016 adoptions.

If it only serves the one property then I generally agree with ProDave. Maintenance of a private pumping station is not a huge issue if it is yours. The problems only really start when more than one property is involved, which is why many (but still not all) shared ones were adopted.

brentcloning

That text doesn't really help you much as "indicates...within 50m" doesn't even mean the pumping station has to be within the property you are looking at. But if you have seen there is one in the front garden that is obviously a good sign there is one!

Sorry I should have mentioned. There is a map we were provided that says it is in the front garden. I am also not assuming that it will be adopted, I will be getting a quote from a company tomorrow that will be able to check the drains and provide an opinion on whether this would qualify to be adopted or not. I just wondered if there would be anything else that I'd need to do.

Start by asking the vendor for details.

My solicitor says that he has already contacted the vendor asking about this, although he says he suspects that they will say they don't know about it. The couple that were in the property before have owned it since the mid-60s I believe so I'm sure it would have required at least some maintenance in all this time.

I'm a first time buyer, and I didn't even realise there were private pumping stations. If the pump did need to be replaced, what kind of cost would I end up paying?

ProDave

Private pumping stations are used where a house is too low for sewage to flow into the main by gravity.

I don't know about raw sewage pump stations, my own just pumps the treated effluent from the treatment plant, but a new pump for that is about £100 and an hours work to change it. You probably need to factor in getting the holding tank pumped out before you can change the pump.

Sometimes they fit 2 pumps a main and a reserve so you have a means to empty the tank then have some time to get the failed pump replaced. (my system only has one pump)

Of course if it has been adopted that would be the best outcome.

brentcloning

Thank you for the information. I guess I'll just have to wait for the survey to come back! Thinking about it though it doesn't seem likely that they'll adopt it now as they obviously already knew about it and it's still private.

EachPenny

brentcloning wrote: »

Thank you for the information. I guess I'll just have to wait for the survey to come back! Thinking about it though it doesn't seem likely that they'll adopt it now as they obviously already knew about it and it's still private.

It could be an oversight, but possibly more likely it only serves one property, or else doesn't discharge into a public sewer.

xylophone

I'm guessing that the best thing will be for me to commission a specialist drainage survey to see if this pumping station would be eligible to be looked after by Severn Trent Water.

https://www.stwater.co.uk/my-supply/pipes-and-drains/responsibility-and-ownership/transferring-ownership-of-pumping-stations/

Do Severn Trent know about it? I think that in our area people were invited to check whether the Water Authority knew about their station.

brentcloning

Do Severn Trent know about it? I think that in our area people were invited to check whether the Water Authority knew about their station.

I am assuming they know abaout it as it was listed on their map, which to me means that it's not eligible for adoption as if it were they would have already taken ownership of it.


If it's a couple of hundred quid every know and again to fix a pump, that's something I'm comfortable with. Would this be something that home insurance would cover if anything more serious happened?