aargh drains !

[RogerS]

How about someone like this guy to give advice ?

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/pete-white-4239102b

 

[dizjasta]

Hi Ollie, from what you have mentioned it suggests a partial obstruction to some part of the drainage system serving your property. This could be due to some root intrusion of fat accumulation from kitchen waste. Do you know if any other properties drain in combination with yours using the pipework that you have seen to be flooded? In view of Thames Water being reluctant to do anything you could consider employing a drainage contractor to clean the pipework on your property by pressure jetting. This would resolve the issue of drainage on your property.

 

[Ollie78]

Hi Ollie, from what you have mentioned it suggests a partial obstruction to some part of the drainage system serving your property. This could be due to some root intrusion of fat accumulation from kitchen waste. Do you know if any other properties drain in combination with yours using the pipework that you have seen to be flooded? In view of Thames Water being reluctant to do anything you could consider employing a drainage contractor to clean the pipework on your property by pressure jetting. This would resolve the issue of drainage on your property.

The pipe on my property is only about 10 metres and is straight and clear, this goes into a 300mm pipe that goes about 40 metres into a much bigger main sewer at right angles to it. I looked down there with some of the drain guys on a previous occassion of flooding, they said that further down this large (600mm I think) line the manhole covers were popping off during the storm. When we looked there was no blockage at all.
All the other houses that drain into the 300mm sewer are effectively above mine so my drain is a safety valve for anyone else on the line.

Do you have your house deeds? Ours had a useful site map in the pack, with the layout of the drains in our small enclave of 6 houses, there are spot heights marked. Also have a look online at your LAs planning portal, if you can go back to the original planning application there may be documents including a drainage map.

Could you take a phone video of it all working normally, water running through the chamber and away, then of it backing up in heavy rain. It strikes me that is evidence that 'your bit' is fine and that it's a Thames Water problem. Quite how you get TW to deal with it I don't know, but I wonder of they have a complaints procedure which, when exhausted, lets you go to OFWAT much like the OFCOM/Phone company process. The local env health suggestion is a good idea but they are under resourced these days. And/or write to your MP or local Councillor - they are keen to show that they care. We are always getting 'newsletters' with pictures of candidiates pointing into potholes, drain holes, all sorts of holes. Generally, persistance makes it more of a nuisance for them to ignore you than it is to just get on and fix it.

We do have the deads and it is interesting that there is a drain shown to the rear of our property that is allegedly for surface water drainage starting in our garden and going the opposite way to the sewer along all the back gardens, no one can find this drain.
We have had people knock on our door and look for it when someone up the street had a blockage and also they looked when they came to our flood. It is on the house plan and thames waters own map.
They went to number 11 where another manhole is shown and no sign of it, they told me the end goes out into a small brook so they would send a camera down there but they didn`t have the right camera, never heard any more about it.
The guy told me that there is a major issue with thames waters mapping because anyone can edit the files and so they do it wrong very often so it is a shambles.

Ollie

 

[Sachakins]

If your getting nowhere with water authority try here

https://www.ofwat.gov.uk/contact-us/water-company-enquiries/

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I read that quickly as "Oftwat" - I was probably correct.

 

[Spectric]

This is part of the problem, our drain is very flat, the fall is minimal but enough under normal conditions.
So, as the drive does go up towards the road I was thinking that putting in a pump station thing I can effectively raise the height of outlet pipe and increase the fall into the sewer.

You say your drain has minimal fall, but at what depth is the pipe in the road ? It may be that you could increase the fall on your pipe if it has some drop on the end down to the pipe in the road or could it be run further down this road pipe, ie move it more to the edge of your property .

 

[Ollie78]

You say your drain has minimal fall, but at what depth is the pipe in the road ? It may be that you could increase the fall on your pipe if it has some drop on the end down to the pipe in the road or could it be run further down this road pipe, ie move it more to the edge of your property .

We only have about 1m to the left side which would be the downstream direction on the 300mm pipe so I don`t know how much would be ganed there.
I am going to have to get it all measured/ surveyed.

 

[MikeJhn]

If as you say the manhole covers to the 300mm drain downstream from you where popping off then no matter what you do your end will not resolve the problem downstream and you will still get flooding at your end, this needs a concerted writing effort to Thames Water, copies to your MP the EA and anyone else with an interest, only by making a nuisance of yourself will you get any action.

 

[pe2dave]

I was not in when he came but according to my wife he first said our drain was blocked, my wife told him the drain in question is about a metre long and fed directly into the same pipe and this had happenned before he returned to the van for a fag and a long phone call, then came back with a card saying it was surface water and if we disagree to call thames water !!

Ollie

Call his bluff? Call them, tell them you're not happy with his responses to your good lady and you'd like a competent engineer to assess the damage.