a guide to surface water drainage

anony_mouse_5

Hi,
I have with interest read the comments and information on Surface water drainage (SWD from now on)
i feel it is now time for me to have a say ref this why?
I work for a water company and carry out the SWD inspections for the company if a customer makes a claim.

Okay lets clarify what SWD is firstly-
it is rainwater pure and simple and the guide used by this is as follows- If a single drop of rain can get into the sewer system by direct or indirect means then it (the prop.) is connected.
i know it sounds tenuous but think about it, if a single drop can get in so can more.

In laymans terms this translates to-
does the drive slope to the public highway? if so where does it go form there?
are the grey water drains from the kitchen/bathroom open?
If its a terraced house and its communal gutteing if any part is connnected it is all connected.
if its flats the SWD charge should be divided by the number of flats.

Okay the problem being faced is becomming more apparant where people listen to their neighbours who happen to be the street lawyer (misplaced belief they're an expert).
Obviously there are some people who do know their stuff but there are a lot who don't.
The neighbour says your not connected- how do they know if your not connected? if they didn't build your house they aren't really going to know (unless they're the architect of course or infact a chartered surveyor).

SWD inspections are done on an individual basis so it has no relevance to your claim if your neighbours are or are'nt.

One question i ask is how do you know you're on a soakaway?

I had one customer point to the base of the guttering downpipe and say there it is!
A soakaway is a pit filled with gravel or hardcore and takes SWD in and lets it SOAKAWAY into the ground they have to be atleast 5metres from the foundation s of the property.

The idea is that you need to prove that you are not connected, not just say your not. (this is due to fraudulant claims)
One place to find out is from the architects plans.

Once you are confident you are on a soakaway or the SWD goes to a river or anywhere other than the sewer ask for a SWD pack from the water company.
Fill in the forms and do the drawing Please make the drawing and any writing legible as this gets scanned into the system and forwarded to the inspector.
and please try to make the drawing look as if a 4 yr old didn't do it (not asking for picasso but you should see some of them!).
Remember this is what the inspector has to initially go from.

Once the inspector is happy/ convinced he will confirm or deny wether you are connected or not. I always try to advise why if i say a customer is connected.
Your account will be ammended. whether you get a rebate and how much is dependant on the company supplying you and i don't want to give you false info ref this.

I hope this helps and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

t_r

My garden is on a slope there is a road to the front although there is other land between us. The other side of the road the field slopes down towards a river.

I suppose my question would be is surface water the rain fall on your buildings or your total land?

anony_mouse_5

if i understand it there is your garden then a peice of land then the road.
if that peice of land was grassland it would drain into that and not get to the road.

ref the other side if there was a drainage pipe from your land that went under the road to the river it would go to what we term as a watercourse.

primarily it depends on wether any rain from your prop. gets to the road or not.

Swd covers any part of the owners land and not just the roof. IE patio drive etc.

t_r

Going to look further into this now cheers

anony_mouse_5

no worries,
any probs let us know.