Foul drainage not connected to a public sewer

Bookworm105

Scotbot said:

Bookworm105 said:

Scotbot said:

t. Hence my question will a drainage survey confirm whether or not it is connected?

you can answer that yourself Drainage Surveys: What Are They and When Do You Need One? | Homebuilding

That says a survey will tell me if the drains are structurally sound. It doesn't say if it will tell me who owns them

Your question was not who owns them, it was where do they go. A drain survey will tell you 

who owns them is, since 1 October 2011, a matter of statute law. 
If it is a private drain, ie a drain that goes from manhole to only your own house, then it is your responsibility to maintain.
if the pipe from the manhole serves serves more than just your own house, then it is a "public" drain and is the responsibility of the relevant water company to maintain (unless of course it is shared with another property and ends in a shared cesspit, not a public foul sewer!).

Given the map you have posted it is inconceivable that the properties are not connected to main (foul) drainage. Housing of that density would never have been connected to a communal cesspit without it being common knowledge of all residents since it would have to be cleared on a rather regular basis at their £££

Green_hopeful

It’s likely the house is connected through a transferred sewer. In the olden days water and sewage companies only owned sewers laid by them. Then in 2011 the government decided that the companies should own all the sewers serving two or more houses. So sewers laid by developers became owned by the companies. But there were no maps of where these sewers physically were so they were not marked on statutory maps like the one you have shown. I would ring the water company and ask if the neighbours are connected to the foul sewer because it seems unlikely they would not be given the proximity to the mains sewers. They might mention GDPR but you are only asking about generality rather than details about particular houses. The call centre should be able to see from their billing records. 

Section62

Green_hopeful said:

It’s likely the house is connected through a transferred sewer.

Possibly, but there are also other possibilities such as a connection to a sewer that was adopted at the time the properties were built.

Green_hopeful said:

In the olden days water and sewage companies only owned sewers laid by them. Then in 2011 the government decided that the companies should own all the sewers serving two or more houses. So sewers laid by developers became owned by the companies.

Not quite correct.  Immediately before 2011 the network of public sewers contained a mix of -

1) Sewers laid by the sewerage undertaker or a predecessor organsation (the vast majority by the local council)

2) Sewers laid by others, but adopted as public sewers

3) Sewers transferred under the 1936 Public Health Act ("Section 24" sewers)

The 2011 changes include pipes that serve only one property but cross a boundary into the neighbouring property (if it communicated with a public sewer) - in which case the pipe becomes a public sewer from the property boundary in the downstream direction.

Green_hopeful said:

But there were no maps of where these sewers physically were so they were not marked on statutory maps like the one you have shown.

The public sewer records are a mess - the OP's example is a good demonstration of the issues.  Section 24 sewers (dating back to 1936) are still not properly recorded, and significant sections of main public sewers are also not shown, or shown incorrectly.  E.g. the 'red' combined sewer which probably serves the property the OP is interested in is shown passing under the foundations of 4 houses (improbable) and then discharges into a foul sewer (impossible).

What has probably happened there is it is known the manhole in the rear garden of number 51 is connected to the manhole in the road, but not 'how', so a straight line has been mapped to link the two together.

The records have to be viewed with a considerable degree of caution.

Green_hopeful said:

I would ring the water company and ask if the neighbours are connected to the foul sewer because it seems unlikely they would not be given the proximity to the mains sewers. They might mention GDPR but you are only asking about generality rather than details about particular houses. The call centre should be able to see from their billing records.

The call centre staff are likely to have no better information than the plan the OP has posted.  The billing records might help, but it isn't unknown for people to be paying sewerage charges when they aren't actually connected to the sewerage system.

Personally I'd arrange a drainage survey to confirm the property's drainage goes to the boundary in the rear garden, then feel comfortable with making the assumption it is public from that point onwards.  There is a very slim chance of the houses having some form of private disposal system, but such a slim chance it isn't worth getting concerned over.

Section62

Bookworm105 said:

who owns them is, since 1 October 2011, a matter of statute law.

Strictly speaking, much earlier than that. This can be relevant were, for example, there is an issue with a buildover of a sewer which is (now) public.

Bookworm105 said:

If it is a private drain, ie a drain that goes from manhole to only your own house, then it is your responsibility to maintain.
if the pipe from the manhole serves serves more than just your own house, then it is a "public" drain and is the responsibility of the relevant water company to maintain (unless of course it is shared with another property and ends in a shared cesspit, not a public foul sewer!).

Pipes serving only one house are also public sewers from where they cross the boundary into a neighbouring property (if it ultimately communicates with a public sewer)

Grumpy_chap

Scotbot said:

I have checked the search  it clearly shows no public sewer. So either the map is wrong or it's private. 

A CCTV survey will confirm where the sewer goes but I suspect there is a connection running along the rear gardens of 63, 65, 67, 69 that connects to the manhole near the garage of 69.

Can the current owner draw on the plan where they believe the sewer runs?

Scotbot

Thanks all. Assuming houses 63 to 69 all share a drain to the public sewer what happens if my drain got blocked and I called the water company out. Would they charge the property where the blockage started?

Doozergirl

Scotbot said:

Thanks all. Assuming houses 63 to 69 all share a drain to the public sewer what happens if my drain got blocked and I called the water company out. Would they charge the property where the blockage started?

No, the water company owns the drains and they fix them.

Someone is at the very start of the run and they are responsible for their own drains until they hit the boundary, at which point the drains are the responsibility of the water company.