Combination drain

scrimperjan

I've recently moved into a late Victorian terraced house and asked a plumber/builder to take a look at the combination drain as there was water standing in it.  He has told me that combination drains are no longer legal and the drain will need to be relocated, and the cost could be anything from £1500 to a few thousand, he will need to look at it further to give me a firm quote.  He said if I got 'one of the big firms' to do it it could be three times as much.  He also said I could just leave it but eventually the water authority will find out and insist that I have the work done.  Is this correct? I can't find anything online to suggest that combination drains are illegal, except when building new drains.

donemedosh

Combination drains are no longer used but they are not illegal. Info given to me was if the house was built before 1970 & it has combination drains then you do not have to replace them. You could look up the website of your local water board & see what that says. But I would leave it after all if it is a terraced house all your neighbours share the same drains. Hope this helps

FreeBear

donemedosh said: Combination drains are no longer used but they are not illegal.

Part H of the building regulations gives a list of acceptable methods of disposing of surface (rain) water in order of preference. Top of the list is a soakaway within the boundary of the property (not always possible with a small garden). A watercourse, failing that, a surface water sewer. Last option is a combined sewer, but discharging in to a foul water sewer is not permitted.

If you are connected to a combined sewer, then it is not illegal. Even if regulations change in the future, they will not be retrospective, so carry on with what you have.