Drain pipe damaged by roots

JustinTime19

Cut a long story short, blocked drain pipe.

Camera had picked up that roots had damaged the pipe on my property and also caused the sewer to collapse.

In terms of the sewer I know I should raise this with the Water Company to fix.

The trees where we believe the roots are from are on council land (pavement). Has anyone had experience in making a claim for the repair work from the council.

tacpot12

If it's the Water Company's responsibility to fix the drains then I would expect it is also their decision as to whether to sue the council if they feel there is evidence that the council's work has caused the problems. 

Section62

JustinTime19 said:

Cut a long story short, blocked drain pipe.

Camera had picked up that roots had damaged the pipe on my property and also caused the sewer to collapse.

In terms of the sewer I know I should raise this with the Water Company to fix.

The trees where we believe the roots are from are on council land (pavement). Has anyone had experience in making a claim for the repair work from the council.

As tacpot12 says, if it is a public sewer then it is up to the sewerage company to claim if they want.

However, claiming isn't always easy as roots generally won't go into a sewer unless it was defective in the first place.  A leaking sewer can attract roots, and over time those roots can do further damage, but it was still the defective sewer that initiated the process.

Did the survey tell you what kind of material the pipe was made from?

JustinTime19

The pipe was Salt Glaze (Clayware).

Copilot came back with this 

Absolutely — tree roots can seriously damage salt glaze pipes, especially older ones. These pipes, often made from vitrified clay with a salt glaze finish, were commonly used in the UK until the mid-20th century. While they’re durable in many respects, they’re particularly vulnerable to root intrusion due to their:

• 🌱 Porous material: Clay pipes can develop tiny cracks over time, allowing moisture to escape and attract roots.

• 🧩 Joint weaknesses: Salt glaze pipes were typically installed in short sections with mortar joints, which can degrade and create entry points for roots.

• 🕳️ Age-related wear: Many salt glaze systems are decades old, making them more susceptible to structural failure.

Once roots find their way in, they can:

• Block the flow of wastewater

• Cause leaks and backups

• Eventually crack or collapse the pipe entirely

If you suspect root damage — like slow drains, gurgling sounds, or lush patches of grass above the pipe — a CCTV drain survey is a smart next step. And if roots are confirmed, options range from mechanical removal to full pipe replacement with modern materials like PVC.

Section62

JustinTime19 said:

The pipe was Salt Glaze (Clayware).

Copilot came back with this 

Absolutely — tree roots can seriously damage salt glaze pipes, especially older ones. These pipes, often made from vitrified clay with a salt glaze finish, were commonly used in the UK until the mid-20th century. While they’re durable in many respects, they’re particularly vulnerable to root intrusion due to their:

• 🌱 Porous material: Clay pipes can develop tiny cracks over time, allowing moisture to escape and attract roots.

• 🧩 Joint weaknesses: Salt glaze pipes were typically installed in short sections with mortar joints, which can degrade and create entry points for roots.

• 🕳️ Age-related wear: Many salt glaze systems are decades old, making them more susceptible to structural failure.

Once roots find their way in, they can:

• Block the flow of wastewater

• Cause leaks and backups

• Eventually crack or collapse the pipe entirely

If you suspect root damage — like slow drains, gurgling sounds, or lush patches of grass above the pipe — a CCTV drain survey is a smart next step. And if roots are confirmed, options range from mechanical removal to full pipe replacement with modern materials like PVC.

...demonstrating the risk of asking AI for answers.

Saltglaze pipes are non-porous (the reason for using them for sewers), and don't suffer "age-related wear" unless the effluent contains extreme quantities of abrasive particles. Not what you'd find in a domestic sewer.

"Cracks" are defects.  Cracking could be caused by tree roots, but more commonly because the pipe was incorrectly laid, or because of ground movement.  Proving that a tree root caused a pipe to crack would require the ability to exclude defective installation and ground movement resulting from other causes.

"Joint weaknesses" = defects.  If the joint was made correctly in the first place then it wouldn't "degrade".

Grenage

That's the problem with public LLMs - they cite whatever is publicly available.  They have no idea if it's correct.

Eldi_Dos

JustinTime19 said:

Cut a long story short, blocked drain pipe.

Camera had picked up that roots had damaged the pipe on my property and also caused the sewer to collapse.

Be aware that if you instruct contractors to carry out repairs and their work damages the tree roots to a extent that the trees are harmed I believe it would be you who would be held responsible.
Be wary of any gung-ho contractors who may saw through main roots to make room for a repair.Especially at this dry time of the year.

As a aside, I am surprised how quick TPO's can come into effect.There is a patch of trees near us that where planted around twenty five years ago when road junction was realigned and are all covered by TPO, much to the dismay of some residents who complain that they no longer have a sea view.

Bigphil1474

We had subsidence at our old house caused by a leaking water company drain, cost the insurers over £20k to fix. They did get the water company to completely fix the drain before they did anything. The water company tried to claim it wasn't their drain, but fortunately I had a man on the inside who sent me the pipework map for my street which I passed on to the insurers. Chase them first.