Sewage problem

[selfbuildextension]

Just popped into the garden to confirm some dimensions and found we have sewage pouring out onto the patio. Apologies for the not so pretty images. Trust me its much worse that what i am showing, i reckon we've got a few weeks of "waste" in the garden.

We have two down pipes, one for toilet and one for all other waste water and they go into two "holes" which are both full overflowing. There is a hole in the toilet one so everything we have flushed for god knows how long has backed up to the hole then spilled out onto the garden.

I cant see any manhole covers on my property.

I am the fourth last house at the bottom of a hill so assume the drain is running towards the bottom of the hill and assume i am to blame and its only a matter of time before the neighbours up stream have problems.

is this a general plumber job or more specialized?

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Ask the Neighbours if they have problems first, and check any manholes you can find in neighbouring gardens, see if they are full. If it's a shared sewer, (i.e. you and at least one other property use it), then it's the Water Company's problem.


Most of us have seen much worse than that, I deal with it on a daily basis so dont worry about a bit of sewage! That hole in the Soil Stack needs fixing, for obvious reasons!

 

[selfbuildextension]

Thanks, fortunately we will be building an extension so all of this pipework will be replaced this summer as part of that project.

Is there always a manhole cover in someones garden within a few doors or are there sometimes none?

 

[Notch7]

If your neighbours sewer crosses into your land, its a public sewer as Hugh J said above.

If the blockage is in that then call the water co. If its only your pipes.........

When you do your extension you need a build over agreement if within 3 metres of a public sewer

 

[selfbuildextension]

How would i find out if its shared or not? are there any obvious signs?

At the moment I have no idea if it goes straight from my house or whether they are all linked.

 

[selfbuildextension]

we are semi detached if that helps

 

[Notch7]

How would i find out if its shared or not? are there any obvious signs?

At the moment I have no idea if it goes straight from my house or whether they are all linked.

If its just your foul drain going across to your neighbours garden -its private.

If the fould drain comes from a neighbour, crosses your garden and then goes into the next garden -and your foul joins it at a manhole in your garden -thats a public drain.

You would need to work out the pipe layout to know - have a look at manholes in adjacent gardens

 

[selfbuildextension]

thanks for your help. I've spoken with Scottish Water and they are going to come out and determine responsibility and if its found to be my problem they also offer a fixed fee unblocking service.

I guess the info they provide will come in handy for the extension!

Thanks again

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Hopefully you're sorted now.

Handy to know that Scottish Water provide a fixed fee service, just seen another post on a drainage group I am a member of about a company that have just relieved a customer of over £1000 to unblock a sink. Really do not know how these people can sleep at night. Trouble then is they give the rest of the industry a bad name.

 

[selfbuildextension]

Scottish water came and determined it was a private drain and the blockage was on my part. They tried with rods free of charge which was nice, but did not have a jet with them and didn't seem to know about this service which I had been told about on the phone so i had to get someone else. The guys done more than they needed to thought so great service and they also found their access point 3 inch beneath the pavement surface which i would never have found.

Turned out I had home emergency insurance so they came out and jetted it but its still not quite right and the guy was having problems with his jet machine, they are coming back tomorrow to re-jet and I'm going to offer the guy some cash to CCTV it whilst he is there.

One the plus he was able to advise me on the approx drain layout so I have that info for when i start digging!

I did contact a few companies and they ranged from 114 - 190 for jetting, the cheapest included CCTV! Dyno was the most expensive as you would expect.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Ian H]

The insurance should CCTV it anyway. We do and I think privately it’s £136 for unblock and CCTV.