Sewage in garden, again, need advice to get Thames Water to do something

warehouse

So for the 5th time since March the main sewer pipe, (which runs under our garage and down the garden), has blocked downstream. There is a manhole cover where the pipe changes direction and this is where the sewage comes out, the block is much further down. Luckily the garden slopes away from the house, and at the end of the garden is the grand Union Canal. Here's a lovely picture:



And another:



Once I mention the canal, Thames Water usually get someone out quite quickly and they eventually clear the blockage. They then attempt to clear up with a jet hose and a bottle of disinfectant which is a complete waste of time, nature does the best job.

So for 10 years we had the very odd problem, then bang, 5 times since March 17. I'm desperately trying to get Thames Water to take ownership and fix this permanently but they say the right things and then do nothing. Frustratingly they actually sent a guy with a CCTV camera on Saturday morning which would have been perfect because this issue was obviously starting about then, but didn't think to let us know so we were out!

So the camels back is now well and truly broken and I've had enough, (the wife is a childminder so having the garden out of action for a month at a time is not good), and have begun by leaving a post on their facebook page, (which amazingly has already seen a response from them). What I want to do is escalate in several directions until they have to take ownership and take this seriously, but how?

Doozergirl

Yuck.

After that many times I would contact my local MP. They should put a rocket under them. Jetting it is clearly not the solution.

warehouse

Doozergirl wrote: »

Yuck.

After that many times I would contact my local MP. They should put a rocket under them. Jetting it is clearly not the solution.

Local MP is David Gauke. Now that's a good idea!

warehouse

Mr Gauke has email.

Doozergirl

Couldn’t resist googling him. Mr Gauke has email and massive eyebrows!

jrrowleyws

Contact the environment agency and whoever looks after the canals these days.

Twopints

jrrowleyws wrote: »

Contact the environment agency and whoever looks after the canals these days.

Canal and River Trust

Debbie_Savard

Suggested -

Registered letter to Thames Water CEO informing him you will hold him personally liable for illness/death in the family due to the sewage discharge, giving 10 working days to fully resolve

Tweet those pics to Thames Water twitter account

Registered letter to the Consumer Council for Water informing them that Thames Water are allowing an illegal discharge into a water way

Ring Environmental Health at Local Council

Ring Environment Agency incident hotline to inform them of illegal discharge into a water way

Lastly, next year plant tatties in that part of garden - should get a great crop.

Ganga

Debbie_Savard wrote: »

Suggested -

Registered letter to Thames Water CEO informing him you will hold him personally liable for illness/death in the family due to the sewage discharge, giving 10 working days to fully resolve

Tweet those pics to Thames Water twitter account

Registered letter to the Consumer Council for Water informing them that Thames Water are allowing an illegal discharge into a water way

Ring Environmental Health at Local Council

Ring Environment Agency incident hotline to inform them of illegal discharge into a water way

Lastly, next year plant tatties in that part of garden - should get a great crop.[/QUOTE]

But do not eat them! our local water co. used to spray sewage onto the land but only on grass/crops eaten by livestock,they are not allowed to use human fetiliser on crops to be eaten by humans.

Davesnave

My Dad had this sort of recurrent problem in the 1980s. It was always his inspection cover that was the one which 'blew.' He grew great raspberries, but he was pretty hacked-off with it.

Local councillor bods made lots of noises and so did the water authority, but nothing was done. He didn't have a convenient canal to pollute, just some marsh land behind his place.

I decided to sort the matter for him, so I bought one of those heavy, screw-down, airtight lids and concreted that onto his inspection chamber. It worked like a dream; before long, some 'important' person had raw sewage running down their garden, instead of it polluting Dad's.

A couple of 'events' later, the pinch point was miraculously identified, someone's garden dug up and the problem dealt-with properly.

Hopefully, you will get more joy than Dad, who didn't have Faceache, Tw@tter or sites like this one. However, if not, you know now how to pass the problem 'up the line!'

warehouse

Davesnave wrote: »

My Dad had this sort of recurrent problem in the 1980s. It was always his inspection cover that was the one which 'blew.' He grew great raspberries, but he was pretty hacked-off with it.

Local councillor bods made lots of noises and so did the water authority, but nothing was done. He didn't have a convenient canal to pollute, just some marsh land behind his place.

I decided to sort the matter for him, so I bought one of those heavy, screw-down, airtight lids and concreted that onto his inspection chamber. It worked like a dream; before long, some 'important' person had raw sewage running down their garden, instead of it polluting Dad's.

A couple of 'events' later, the pinch point was miraculously identified, someone's garden dug up and the problem dealt-with properly.

Hopefully, you will get more joy than Dad, who didn't have Faceache, Tw@tter or sites like this one. However, if not, you know now how to pass the problem 'up the line!'

Appreciate the reply Dave but it would move the issue to the next point up which is directly above my house. Glad your Dads was sorted eventually.