The big sewer issue

When residents of Moorsfield Avenue in Audlem found they had a blocked sewer, they naturally called United Utilities to clear the blockage. After all, a large part of their Water Bill is to pay for what leaves their house rather than the water that flows in through their taps.

Imagine their surprise when United Utilities told them it was the householders' responsibility as it was a 'Private Sewer'. Sewers need to be unblocked quickly so the householders had to club together and pay a private contractor to clear the problem.

Fortunately, some householders still held the documents that showed that when the road had been adopted by Crewe & Nantwich Council, the sewers would be adopted by the then water authority. Something, clearly, had gone wrong!

United Utilities now appear to have have accepted this. On the Chatbox yesterday a Moorsfield Avenue resident wrote: "United Uitilities have now agreed that the sewers on the Moorsfield Avenue estate are deemed to have been adopted. They will be doing a survey to get them added to their database."

Water companies are obliged to keep a map, available to the public, showing which sewers they have adopted. A local map immediately throws up anomalies. One Audlem estate road, for example, has an adopted sewer that appears to sit in splendid isolation before flowing into a so-called 'Private Sewer' at the end of the road.

House of Commons

The House of Commons Library has a splendid briefing note on this delicate subject which a regular reader of AudlemOnline brought to our attention. Amazingly, this reveals: "It is estimated that nearly half of all domestic properties are served by a private sewer or lateral drain. However, many homeowners are unaware of their liability until a problem develops."

You can click on the link below the photo to read the report.

A quick Google search reveals that this issue, potentially putting householders at risk of paying out thousands of pounds to repair something they didn't know they owned, has hardly caused a ripple in the national media. Could it be that the residents of Moorsfield have presented your local website with a national scoop!

Solution

Fortunately, it's a story that could have a happy ending. Whilst the last Government did much work, and carried out numerous consultations, it didn't finish off the job after deciding that the best way forward was: "Transfer of ownership of private sewers and lateral drains to a statutory body."

Again to quote the House of Commons report: "The transfer required the approval of regulations by Parliament. Draft regulations were due to be published by the Labour Government and consulted on in 2009 so that the transfer could occur in April 2011--but that did not happen."

The Coalition Government, however, decided to continue with the transfer. On 26 August 2010 draft regulations to effect the transfer from October 2011 were published for consultation. The Minister, James Paice MP, said:

"I am pleased to announce that on 26 August 2010 I published for consultation draft regulations to effect the transfer of private sewers into the ownership of the statutory sewerage companies in England from 2011."

Those of a slightly sceptical view of Governments of any shade may feel only partly reassured. It still has to happen. It may well be that reforming the NHS, the Education system, the economy and much else may divert attention away from a less glamorous, but widespread problem hidden under our streets.

Those of greater faith may think all will now come good – our sewers will be adopted and, as the House of Commons report reveals, we will all pay between £3 and £14 a year more on our Water Bills to compensate the likes of United Utilities for taking responsibility for what they should have been responsible for over the past thirty years or so.

Pressure

Perhaps we should make sure that our politicians do what the Minister has promised. And this time, finish the job properly.

Also, it's likely that many other residents have agreements similar to that of the Moorsfield Avenue residents with Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council. United Utilities gave in quickly enough – and hopefully, will also refund the residents the money they had to pay out to clear the blockage.

Audlem Online will follow up this story over the coming months. But, perhaps, pressure from householders, similar to that in Moorsfield Avenue, may mean Audlem gets many of its sewers adopted in line with what should have happened years ago – even without the need for the new legislation.

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.