Dear Anna
I’ve been notified that my property has a drainage misconnection. What does this mean and who is responsible for putting it right?
Drainage connections
Some home improvements including extensions, new kitchens or bathrooms or even simply adding a new washing appliance in a kitchen or utility can be a source of pollution if washing appliances and toilets are not connected to the correct drainage system.
There are many instances of foul water from improperly fitted appliances being connected to the wrong drainage system and instead of discharging to the foul sewers, dirty water is instead sent into the surface water system, which can ultimately lead to the pollution and contamination of streams, rivers, and coastlines.
Many houses have two separate sewers:
- The foul sewer takes waste water from toilets, bathrooms, and kitchens to sewage works for treatment – this might be mains or private treatment.
- The surface water sewer takes rainwater from the roof and sends it to a local river, stream, or beach (in many instances there is no surface water sewer, and rainwater discharges via a soakaway into the ground).
If your property has foul waste water pipes discharging to a surface water sewer intended for rainwater only, it will cause pollution. There are also ‘clean misconnections’ caused when roof drains and clean surface areas are connected to foul sewers. This excessive volume of water causes foul sewers to overflow, often into rivers but sometimes also into properties.
These are known as misconnections and you’ll need to put it right.
If you own the property, you are responsible, even if the misconnection was made by a previous owner.
If you rent the property, you should contact the landlord who's responsible for putting it right. This may be the local council, housing association or a private landlord.
Since October 2011 water companies have taken over the ownership of private sewers. This means you are responsible for the drains from your property up to the point they combine with drains from a neighbouring property. After this point they are the responsibility of your water company.
Legal
It’s unlikely that your building insurance will pay for misconnected drainage. Unfortunately, your insurance usually only covers blocked or defective sewers.
Legal action can be taken if you don’t put a misconnection right. Initially, authorities usually prefer to work with property owners to correct misconnection problems voluntarily. Ultimately you will be served with a notice to correct the drainage, and this will incur more costs especially if the authorities have to undertake the work and then recharge you.
The polluter could also face legal action depending on the damage to the environment. A person sentenced by a Magistrate faces a fine not exceeding £50,000 or imprisonment of up to 12 months, or both. In extreme cases in a Crown Court, a person faces an unlimited fine or imprisonment of up to 5 years, or both.
More information about drainage misconnections and how to identify and prevent them can be found at - https://www.water.org.uk/developers/plumbing-and-drainage-misconnections
