Jo Lycett vs Sewage

This is a photo of the program title page for Channel 4’s ‘Jo Lycett vs Sewage’. Any attention brought to looking after our rivers is important to us at ASL Limited, and we hope that lots of people will watch this programme to open the eyes and ears of the nation about what they can do themselves to help this situation. You may still be able to view the show through this link in the Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20241008115513/https://www.channel4.com/programmes/joe-lycett-vs-sewage

“You would say that!”

Yes we do run a business in drainage, so we are ‘gonna say that’ but our family run business is passionate about improving everyone’s drainage for the sake of the environment. 

At ASL Limited we have the experience, tools, manpower and knowledge to improve every household’s surface water drainage to the betterment of their lives and the condition of our rivers and seas. We pride ourselves on high standards of workmanship delivered to the best of our ability, with our customers’ best interests and the environment at the forefront of our minds and actions. 

Nobody wants to be the unpopular ones who shine the spotlight on ourselves – as homeowners in the UK – Yet we are the ones producing the waste. It is our sewage that needs to be taken away, cleaned up and disposed of and many of us have our heads in the sand.

But why?

Yes, we pay for that service to be carried out and are shocked when we find out that our public sewage systems can’t cope. But how many of us ask why that is. How many of us ask why our sewage systems are being flooded? Where is all the excess water coming from? Are we going to the toilet that much more than we did before?

The short answer to that last question is no. 

The excess water that floods our sewage systems literally falls out of the sky. It comes from surface water runoff going into our sewer systems. (It’s hugely surprising how much rainwater falls in a very short space of time.) Just as Jo points out at the start of his program.

Hang on a minute! Surely that’s not right – rainwater in our sewage system!

Surely we have a separate surface water sewer system? Of course we do. So again, the question comes back to: ‘How is it getting into our sewage system?’ And how might sewage be getting into our surface water sewer system, too?

Well, that’s a little complex and a more ‘sensitive’ subject to discuss. Some of the ‘entry points’ are more obvious than others and some a little easier to prevent or put right than others too.

Here are a few:

• Broken or badly sealed manhole covers
• Broken or badly sealed inspection chamber covers
• Tree roots breaking through drainage pipes
• Roof guttering down pipes are legally plumbed into the sewage drains
• Surface water gullies are legally plumbed into the sewage drains
• Rainwater runoff is illegally plumbed into private sewage systems
• Sewage pipes are illegally plumbed into surface water drains – better known as ‘missconnected pipes’.

Whoah! Who is plumbing surface water into the sewers then?

The fact is that historically household surface water was plumbed into the public sewage system perfectly legitimately, as a combined system, and even today in some cases a permit can be applied for to connect to a combined system. (At the time, it seemed like a good idea ‍♂️.) But in most cases it has not been legal for a very long time, that has not stopped people from doing it illegally and getting away with it. 

Similarly, since 1991, under Section 109 of the Water Industry Act, it’s unlawful to discharge foul water into a sewer provided for surface water where separate public sewers are provided for surface water and foul water. So technically, raw sewage being ” misconnected ” to surface water drainage should be a thing of the past.
(More information on misconnected pipes can be found here on Thames Water’s website via this link.)

Who is responsible enough to fix it?

Whether it was the homeowner themselves or the builders they hired, and whether or not the surface water gullies were plumbed into the sewage legitimately or not, is not really what we are highlighting. What we are highlighting is that there IS a solution that we can all join in on.

You could argue, “Well, it’s not my fault that the builder plumbed it into the sewer, I never asked him to.” Or “I didn’t realise at the time it wasn’t allowed anymore”. Even if it was legitimately done before it was made illegal, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s adding to the problem of sewage overflowing into rivers and the sea NOW. 

The likelihood is that 80% of householders in the UK have no idea where their surface water drainage goes, and never before have they needed to know. The trouble is, NOW we know there is a problem with the way we have done things before. It’s only NOW we can put it right. 

So what do we do about it?

The good news is that we also now know there are ways to fix it. There are many things that can be done to improve this situation. 

The bad news is that it’s going to take a mini revolution to get the ball rolling. 

We are not looking to point fingers or name-and-shame people for what has gone before. On the contrary, we LOVE to celebrate those who have taken positive action to do their bit. So why not celebrate with us? 

If you have taken responsibility for your surface water drainage, we would love to hear about it! We would like to feature you on our website and social media as pioneers in the fight against river pollution!

Share with us on Social media your photos and description of how you have plumbed your surface water to avoid the public sewer. If you are in the middle of having surface water drainage installed, such as soakaways or rainscaping, get snapping pics of the stages of the process and let us know by tagging us ‘@ASL Limited blocked drain & drainage specialists’ and using the hashtag ‘#IHaveASurfaceWaterSolution’.

Maybe it will make us all think about how we can do our little bit. Maybe it will create a little ripple of positivity around putting this right. Maybe that little ripple will grow and become a wave of awareness that can really start to stop the problem.