Shower/Bathtub waste into ground

[MH731Z]

Hi All

we just discovered that our shower and bathtub waste is going to a small pipe that does not appear to be connected to the main sewer...

this was all discovered by chance as we recently moved into the property and I was working on the front garden, it looks like the previous owners have connected the shower waste to the rainwater waste pipe... however that pipe does not appear to be connected anywhere in fact at the moment its blocked by tree roots... and it looks too small to be connected to any public rainwater waste.

please see pictures attached showing the connection, the white pipe is coming from the shower/bathtub and the black pipe is from the gutters.

I had Thames Water come over to investigate but they say what's happening is illegal as its likely this is all draining to the ground... so it seems we might have to connect that shower to the right place :/

whats the best way to do this ? does building control need to be involved and Thames Water ?

Thanks

 

[mikeey84]

Do you have a soil pipe that takes the toilet waste? That's where you will need to connect into

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

A waste to rainwater pipe adapter is purposely not made to avoid people trying to connect the 2. Quite possible the rainwater drain leads to a soakaway, fine for rainwater, not acceptable for a shower. (Although some use 'Grey Water' for watering planys etc.)

The shower waste needs to discharge to a foul drain, the same drain that takes toilet, kitchen sinks etc. I suspect there isn't an easy or close option, hence why the installer connected the shower waste to the rainwater..... Need to find where the nearest sewer runs and look at how to connect to it.

 

[MH731Z]

A waste to rainwater pipe adapter is purposely not made to avoid people trying to connect the 2. Quite possible the rainwater drain leads to a soakaway, fine for rainwater, not acceptable for a shower. (Although some use 'Grey Water' for watering planys etc.)

The shower waste needs to discharge to a foul drain, the same drain that takes toilet, kitchen sinks etc. I suspect there isn't an easy or close option, hence why the installer connected the shower waste to the rainwater..... Need to find where the nearest sewer runs and look at how to connect to it.

thanks for your reply, strangely enough its probably about 5 meters away in a straight line to get to the foul drain pipe, Not sure why they did it this way, so if I was to fix this issue would I need to contact Thames Water and/or Building Control ? whats the correct way to do this ?, thanks for your time in advance

 

[MH731Z]

Do you have a soil pipe that takes the toilet waste? That's where you will need to connect into

yeah thats where they should have connected to

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Building Control should really approve any new drainage installation, Thames need to be involved if the sewer you are connecting into shared, (i.e. it's their responsibility), if it only takes waste from your house then just run it by Building Control.

If you are happy discharging the waste pipe into an open gulley, provided you can get a straight run to the sewer, fit a Bottle Gulley, and you should be fine to Tee into the existing sewer.