drains...help

leaRey

I have just come back from a weekend away and found that my main drain in my back garden has become blocked (theres water and "other stuff) all over my garden which my kitchen doors open directly on to.

I called the water board who said they would send someone, which they did, and also said that if it was their problem it would be done free, if it was our problem, we would have to pay (which we were happy to do) for them to sort it out.

The problem is ours, but because the water board had changed cotracts the ma who came out couldnt sort it out as he couldnt take payment ad had no idea how much to charge us.

Can i complain to the water board as i wasnt told this on the phone. Had we known this information, we wouldnt have wasted a day sorting it with the water board.

To make matters worse we have a 13 year old daughter AND the boy ext door is recovering from cancer! SO the smells and germs from our garden cant be helping at all!!!

Its a shared drain, and we have also contacted the evirometal health dept, who logged the call has house indager of flooding, but have said that they have utill the 19th of feb to action the problem!!!

Sorry this is so log!

LeaRey

merlinthehappypig

If the blockage is on your property then it's almost certainly your responsibility, as you seem to accept in your post.

I'm not sure what you can do about the water board's mis-information. Nothing, in my experience. You don't have any proof of what you were told and are highly unlikely to be able to pin down to whom you spoke and what they said. This is the problem with all these big utilities.

What I can say is that you should check your home insurance first. Most decent policies will cover you for this sort of problem and the insurer will arrange for someone to come out and fix it, quickly in my experience. They may not pay if you get someone else out without their prior approval.

You may not be covered, but it is worth checking before doing anything else. An emergency call out is going to cost an arm and leg.

That said, most blockages are fairly simply and can be resolved yourself with a set of drain rods. It might be worth borrowing a set and having a go.

mlz1413

Is your property pre 1940 build or after? This is important as the Water Co is responsible for drains pre 1940. (I have experience of them not admitting to this).

If the drain is shared how many houses go into it? And will the neighbours help out with the cost?

leaRey

the house was built after the 40's and about 15 houses use the drain, but it only seems to be ours thats blocked!

I dont really know ay of my neighbours, but im sure a polite letter would be ok to send them all.

merlinthehappypig

If it is only yours that is blocked it's likely to be a simple matter, easily cleared with a drain rod. Worth a try first and might save a small fortune.

mlz1413

I have posted a link below that shows Anglian Waters website saying that if a private drain is shared then it is shared responsibility. May be worth looking up your suppliers website.

Good Luck

http://www.anglianwater.co.uk/index.php?sectionid=200&parentid=14&contentid=850&pager=1#ptop

silvercar

try some drain rods, you could be lucky and sort it in minutes. If you find the blockage remember to stand upstream of it!

bryanb

mlz1413 wrote: »

Is your property pre 1940 build or after? This is important as the Water Co is responsible for drains pre 1940. (I have experience of them not admitting to this).

If the drain is shared how many houses go into it? And will the neighbours help out with the cost?

I would like to know of anywhere I can find proof of this as my house is 1919 and blockages downstream are frequent, Thanks for any info. BRYANB

PasturesNew

I had a blocked drain, called out Dyno Rod. Took them 3 visits (£300) to fix it, including putting a camera down to find out where the drains went to/if they could see anything at all.

It turned out to be an old pair of pliers that presumably an old owner had dropped down the loo/similar and it had taken a few years to work its way through until it got stuck. Then everything backed up behind it.

After that I bought drains insurance and of course nothing ever went wrong again.

Of course, if yours is shared, it could turn out to be a baby nappy from a neighbour or similar.

mlz1413

bryanb wrote: »

I would like to know of anywhere I can find proof of this as my house is 1919 and blockages downstream are frequent, Thanks for any info. BRYANB

Anglian water

mlz1413

Hi Bryanb,

I was told by Anglian Water back in the 1990's that they were responsible for properties pre-1947, but I cannot find anything in writing!

I last had a blocked drain in 2003 and this was again cleared for free by Anglian Water. Both houses were terrace with shared drains, not sure if this makes a difference.

As your house is about the same age I would ring your water supplier next time and ask if they will come out, I'm sure they will say if it's not going to be for free.

MLZ