Our sewers
We own and operates a network of 40,000 kilometres of public sewers, which transport the equivalent of 184 million toilet flushes to our treatment works every day. Our treatment works then clean the wastewater before returning it to rivers and the sea.
Types of sewer
There are three types of public sewer:
- Foul sewers carry sewage away from domestic, industrial and commercial premises, usually to our treatment works
- Surface water sewers carry rainfall drained from paved and roofed areas, usually to a stream, river or canal
- Combined sewers carry both sewage and surface water, usually to our treatment works. These form around 70% of the sewers in the North West
Where are public sewers located?
We maintain the statutory sewer map. This shows the recorded position of public sewers, disposal mains and sewers covered by a Section 104 adoption agreement.
All local authorities have access to the statutory sewer map for their area on the internet, and this is available to view free of charge by the public at council offices. A printed extract of the statutory sewer map may be purchased from our Property Searches department.
Your drains
The pipe connecting your property to the public sewer is called a drain.
If your property was built in 1937 or later the drain is owned by you and is your responsibility. Sections of drain serving more than one property are in shared ownership of those properties.
If your property was built before 1937 drains serving only your property are owned by you and are your responsibility, but sections serving more than one property are owned and maintained by us.
Land drains are the responsibility of the riparian owner. The riparian owner is the person who owns the piece of land that the land drain, ditch or watercourse runs through. For advice concerning land drains please contact your local council's drainage section.
Highway drains are the responsibility of the highway authority. For further information, please contact Highways Authority for your area for advice.
Defra announcement regarding ownership of sewer pipes
In December 2008 the government announced future changes regarding the ownership of sewer pipes.
While the majority of the UK's sewer network is the responsibility of the local water and sewerage companies, government research suggests that around 200,000km of sewer pipes are privately owned which affects 10 million homes.
The repair and maintenance of these sewer pipes is the responsibility of the owner of the property served by these private sewer pipes.
Many home owners are unaware that repair and maintenance of these sewer pipes is their responsibility until a problem such as a blockage or collapse occurs on the pipe. Typically this section of pipe is the part which connects from the customer's property boundary to the main sewer pipe in the road.
The government announcement will mean that, in future, responsibility for these sections of sewer pipe will transfer from the home owner to the water company. United Utilities welcomes this decision as it will mean a better integrated sewerage network across the North West and will remove any doubt over future maintenance and repairs.
We will be working with the government to ensure as smooth a transition as possible. Until the transfer date in 2011, customers are still responsible for the maintenance of their private sewer pipes.
Further details on this change can be found on the Defra website.
For more information contact :
Wastewater service enquiries
T:0845 746 2200