Where to Report a Blocked Drain?

Need help straight away?

Call ASL Limited on 0800 181 684, and we’ll help you work out what to do next.

Who do you report a blocked drain to?

ASL Limited regularly carries out drainage work throughout Guildford and the surrounding towns and villages within a 25-mile radius.

One of the most common questions we get from homeowners is:

“Who is actually responsible for a blocked drain?”

And the honest answer is, it depends on where the blockage is.

Many people assume the water company is responsible for everything underground.

Others think the homeowner must deal with everything. In reality, responsibility depends on where the pipe sits and who it serves. Understanding this can save a lot of time, frustration, and sometimes money.

Drains inside your property boundary

If the blockage is in a pipe that only serves your house and is inside your property boundary, if it’s private drainage, it is normally your responsibility.

This usually includes:

• Kitchen sink drains,
• Bathroom drains,
• Pipes running from the house to the first inspection chamber,
• Outside gullies,
• Pipes serving only your property.

Most of these problems are fairly straightforward for a drainage engineer to diagnose and clear.

A lot of the time, the cause is simply a build-up inside the pipe from everyday use, especially if the pipe is out of alignment, has open joints, or has insufficient fall.

Things like:

• fat and grease,
• food waste,
• hair and soap,
• scale and debris.

These build up slowly over time until the pipe eventually blocks.

Shared drains and lateral drains

The situation changes once the pipe leaves your property or connects with other houses, unless it’s a privately owned treatment plant, a septic tank, or a pumping station.

When a pipe carries wastewater from more than one property to the public sewer network, it becomes a shared drain.

In many cases, these shared pipes are now the responsibility of the local water authority for any pipes installed before 1st October 2011. For shared drains connected to the public sewer network that were installed after 1st October 2011 (such as on new housing developments), responsibility will depend on whether the drains were adopted through a Section 104 application after installation. 

Need help with a blocked drain?

Our experienced engineers clear most blocked drains quickly and safely using the correct equipment.

ASL Limited regularly carries out drainage work throughout Guildford and the surrounding villages within a 25-mile radius

📞 Call ASL Limited on 0800 181 684

We will identify the cause, clear the blockage properly, and make sure your drainage system is working as it should.