Is your house drainage system working correctly?

Most of the customers we serve will have houses with drainage systems connected to the main public sewer.

Surface water entering the sewage system

Your house can discharge surface water to the public sewer system by mistake, without you even realising it. This can be as much as 10,000 litres of surface water in a single day if there has been heavy rainfall.

Please watch these two videos that demonstrate surface water entering the sewage system through the inspection chamber lid.

Types of drainage systems for houses

There are different types of drainage systems for houses; these are separate pipe systems that carry rainwater or wastewater away from your property. These drains are designed specifically to carry the water types named in their names, so that the main public system is not overwhelmed by excess water that should not have been in the house sewer drainage system. 

The checking and maintenance of a house drainage system is the responsibility of the homeowner. So, if the house water drainage system on your property is not working, either because the house drainage system is clogged, the pipe is damaged, or one of your pipes is overflowing into the other, get in touch with us today. Our team will quickly identify the problem, such as using a CCTV drain survey in the video above, and find the right solution to restore your water system to full working order.

How your house drainage system could cause pollution

Even though your sewage may be going to the correct drain at first, the drain has several inspection chambers along the pipe. These allow access to the interior of the rainwater or foul water pipe in the event that maintenance or repairs have to be carried out. These inspection chambers are situated on the pipes that carry water away from your property to the main public sewer line. Surface water, such as that from heavy rainfall and flooding, may find its way between the frame and the lid of these inspection chambers.

When this happens, surface water may flood the pipe, increasing the amount of water it would normally carry by up to ten times. This overwhelms the public treatment establishments. In turn, this then leads to the overflow being discharged into rivers and other surface water environments.

House drainage systems with combined sewers

If your property was built before 1970, there is a chance that your house drainage system will be working on a combined drainage system. This is a single pipe that collects both wastewater and rainwater, making it more difficult to separate the different types of water discharged from your property. A house with three or four bedrooms discharges around a cubic metre of water per day, which could overwhelm the pipe or cause it to discharge into rivers further along the main sewage line.

If you have older pipes that may need repairing or replacing, call us today. We have many years of experience repairing pipes that have served properties for years, helping you maintain a high-quality system that works exactly as it should. We can also upgrade your system if your older combined drainage system needs to be replaced with a newer model.

Contact Us

Ensure your systems are working correctly by contacting our office today. One of our expert team members will get back to you about your house drainage system issue in no time.

Call ASL drainage engineers on 0800 181 684