Ripped off

HMStarkey

We moved into our house in 1991.
There are 13 houses in the street, they were all built in the mid 1970s to house Firefighters at the local station. In 1993 the Fire Service sold off the houses.
We have been paying our water rates in full since we moved in, a portion of the bill pays for "waste water, surface run off and highway drainage". 2 years ago the fire authority had to dig up our street to repair their drain, that is when we discovered that our highway drainage and surface run off drain into a private drain and discharges into a local stream, it is not processed by the water board at all.
We are being told that they will reduce our bill but will not refund us any of the money they have charged us for decades for a service they did not provide. 
Surely this can't be just? 

matelodave

Here are the rules - https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/households/your-water-bill/surfacewaterdrainage/#:~:text=If%20you%20can%20prove%20that,paid%20for%20surface%20water%20drainage. generally it's up to you to claim the exemption because the water company probably didn't lay the drains etc and dont necessarily know what gets dumped into their network until it actually joins it. So check your specific water company's T&C's regarding compensation or refunds