Sewer manhole / drainage questions

thegfb

Hi, I need to find my main sewer inspection chamber (aka manhole) however I am having difficulties.


I have a three bed semi detached house, on the junction of a side street and cul de sac. It was built in 2008.


In my front garden I have a small black plastic inspection chamber for surface drainage, as does my neighbour. Just inside the junction of the cul de sac on the road next to my house, I have another surface drainage inspection chamber as does the house just opposite me the other side of the junction. Nowhere on my property or that of my neighbour can we find a foul water drainage inspection chamber.


I phoned my water board, they told me that my manhole cover was in the middle of the side street in front of my house (I can see a large iron cover there). However I got a second opinion and was told that it should certainly be on my property or that of my neighbour. I called the water board back and they agreed with this but could not help any more other than to suggest calling the council. I called the council who said I need to call the water board.


I have checked the land registry which does not show drainage plans. I have got a copy of my drainage survey done when I purchased the property. Interestingly, it shows the main sewer on the street is combined surface/foul water which I thought would be odd for a newer build. However that brings me to my final point, would that mean there is no 'big' manhole cover anywhere and the only ones I have are the smaller surface drainage inspection chambers? All help appreciated as this is beginning to get annoying. Thanks

Doozergirl

Even if the main sewer is combined, I think you still need to have separate drains for your surface and foul drainage in case that changes. I'm pretty sure that you should really have soakaways for rainwater, but perhaps there is agreement otherwise. New build isn't my strong point though.

Have you looked inside the big iron manhole cover? How far is it from the house? You'll see the direction of the inlets and can establish if any point towards your SVP.

thegfb

Unfortunately I cannot access the cover in the street because I would have to close the road in order to do it such is the volume of traffic. And if something went wrong, well I could get in trouble I suppose.

Doozergirl

You need a CCTV survey then, I guess!

What's the reason for looking for it?

EachPenny

thegfb wrote: »

I called the council who said I need to call the water board.

Try looking on the Council's website for the planning application for your house - developers often include things like drainage layouts on plans for planning consent, even if not strictly required (it is easier/cheaper to draw up one plan and use it for multiple purposes than to do different plans)

Most Councils now have planning application documents available to download and view free of charge.

If not, the alternative is to contact the Council's building control department and ask to view the plans for your property (you may need to make an appointment). These should show the planned drainage layout, which even if the final layout differs, will give you a good starting point for tracing where (if anywhere) your inspection chamber(s) are.

thegfb

Thanks I have sorted it out now, on a hunch I flushed the upstairs toilet and saw water flowing through one of them. I was expecting them to be big but they are no more than 12 inches in diameter. It seems that the rainwater must be going to a soakaway but I cannot see one indicated on the drain survey map.