Drain and sewer problems

Defective drainage

The chances are if you’re looking at this page you have a blocked or damaged drain or sewer or have seen one somewhere. Overflowing sewage due to defects is unpleasant and should be fixed as soon as possible.

We can offer advice and investigate defective foul drainage and use legal powers to resolve disputes. If the drainage relates to residential premises then the public health team can get involved. For food premises you should contact the food safety service and for other commercial premises you should contact the pollution and safety service.

The downloadable document on this page will give you more detail about foul drainage and defines the terms used below. In brief:

• If a drain is faulty then the owner of the house is likely to be responsible for fixing it.

• If a private sewer is faulty then all people upstream of the fault are likely to be responsible.

• If a public sewer is faulty then southern water services are responsible for the repair. You can contact them on 0845 2780845.

Where a drain or private sewer is defective you can contact us for advice on how to proceed.