Public and private sewers

You may not know that there are two types of sewer - private and public.  It's important that you do as responsibility for them is different and it's expected to alter from 2011. 

The change will see us take responsibility for 22,000 kilometres of private sewer pipes, on top of the 33,000 kilometres of public sewers we already look after.  This is fantastic news as it provides greater clarity and takes the cost of maintenance and costly repairs away from the homeowner. 

Which pipes are the private sewer pipes?

The difference between a public sewer and a private sewer is a legal difference rather than a practical difference, but there are some general rules that usually apply.

• The pipe that only serves your property is known as a drain, and is private
• Unless your house was built before 1937, the pipes close to your property that serve you and your neighbours will be private
• The sewers in the roads will generally be public sewers, provided that the water company was asked to look after them when they were built

Who's responsible for the sewers?

A private sewer is currently the joint responsibility of the owners/occupiers of the properties that drain into it. This responsibility continues up to the point where the private sewer (including the connection) joins a public sewer, where we become responsible for maintenance and repairs. This means that customers can sometimes be responsible for repairs outside their boundary. All public sewers are our responsibility.

How will responsibility change?

We'll be taking over the responsibility for privately-owned sewers and lateral drains (the bit of your pipe that's outside your boundary).  This is great news for us and customers as it brings clarity to a confusing issue and passes the cost of repairs from homeowners to us.  There are currently disputes with us or neighbouring properties when things go wrong as ownership is often not clearly defined.  The change is expected to happen in 2011.

Will all private sewers transfer straight away?

No, sewers that are connected to private pumping stations and treatment plants will not transfer automatically.  The government are still working to understand how this can be done.

Sewers that only carry surface water straight to a watercourse may also transfer at a later date.