The Environmental Health Unit will investigate any complaints relating to drainage and sewerage, determining the nature of the problem and decide who is responsible for any further action. Environmental Health however does not provide a service to unblock drains or carry out repair work and the parties responsible will need to call out a private contractor.
Drainage SystemsDrainage is an area of uncertainty relating to whether actual lines of pipe are the responsability of one or more individuals or of a local body such as the water board in this case Northumbrian Water. There are generally three types of drainage systems: -
- A private drain, which connects from one property to a private sewer or directly to the public sewer.
- A private sewer, which takes waste from a number of properties before connecting to the public sewer. There may be a separate private sewer for foul and surface water. It may be combined and may run along the front or the rear of several properties.
- A public sewer usually located in the middle of road or back street.
Drainage ResponsibilityThe law relating to responsibility for drainage is particularly complex but can be summarised as follows.
A blockage or defect in a
private drain is the responsibility of the owner of the property to which its serves up to and including the point of connection to the public sewer. This means that you may be responsible for a blockage or defect in pipework, which is not within the curtilage of your property i.e. underneath the public footpath.
A blockage or defect in a
private sewer is the responsibility of the owners of the property upstream of the blockage or defect. Therefore all properties that use this stretch of pipe will be jointly responsible and as a result the cost of any clearance or repair work should be shared between responsible parties. However if your property is built before 1937 and there is more than one property connected to the sewer, this may fall under the responsibility of Northumbrian Water. You should query this with Northumbrian Water or contact Environmental Health for advice or information.
A
public sewer is the responsibility of the water board in this case Northumbrian Water with regard to their maintenance and repair and they will investigate any problem associated with the public sewer. They can be contacted on
Tel 0845 7171100 or see the link to their website on the left.
The document below illustrates the different types of drainage systems and gives examples of who is responsible for various blockages
