Kingston upon Thames

Darren was finishing a drainage job in Kingston upon Thames when the Guildford office called him about another emergency nearby in Esher.

The customer had a blocked drain causing serious problems. Because the private drainage system might also need emptying, the office arranged for one of our sewage tankers to attend at the same time. By the time Darren arrived, the tanker was there waiting for him.

It was a very frosty morning, and Darren quickly found a problem around the outfall pipe, which had become badly restricted and jammed up. Using high-pressure water jetting, together with the powerful suction from our tanker, we cleared the blockage and thoroughly cleaned the system. The affected area was then cleaned and disinfected.

While carrying out the work, Darren noticed something else that could explain why the system was having problems. The inspection chamber before the tank was relatively high, while the tank itself was set quite low in the ground. This meant surface water and potentially groundwater could find its way into the private drainage system, adding unnecessary water and causing disruption.

We recommended a further survey around the property to check whether any roof water or rainwater drainage was incorrectly entering the foul drainage system.

There was also an issue of maintenance. Rather than simply clearing the blockage and leaving, we discussed a sensible maintenance programme with the customer. If everything continues to operate correctly over the next month, we will arrange for the system to be emptied, cleaned and inspected annually. This gives us an opportunity to identify developing problems before they become another emergency.

It is a good example of why we don’t just look at the blockage itself. Clearing the drain gets the customer going again, but understanding why it happened can help prevent the same problem returning.

Services

• Blocked Drains & Diagnostics
• Private Drainage Systems
• Emergency Tanker Service