Learn who is responsible for blocked drains and sewers, and when to contact us, or South West Water, for help.
Usually, you are responsible for drains inside the boundaries of your property. South West Water is responsible for lateral drains and sewers. These are usually outside of property boundaries. Some sewers are still private or unadopted. If your home uses one of these, you may need to maintain it.
A drain: a pipe that carries waste from your home,garage or outbuildings.
A lateral drain: a length of pipe which carries wastewater away from your property to a sewer. It’s usually located outside your property boundary. It is often under a public pavement or road. A lateral drain might run under your property if you share a sewer with your neighbour.
A sewer: collects water and waste from the drains of a number of buildings. Most sewers are publicly owned and maintained by your water company. However, there are still some privately owned sewers. Some people aren’t connected to a sewer. They may use a cesspool, septic tank or treatment plant. If you aren’t connected to a sewer, you won’t have to pay sewerage charges to your water company.
You must fix or maintain drains inside your property. These are called private drains.
If you share a lateral drain with a neighbour, South West Water is responsible for it.
You can choose any company to fix your private drains. You may also get insurance to cover the cost. Sometimes, you might be required to have insurance for the drain to your property. You should check this with your building insurance company.
Sewers and lateral drains connected to the public network used to be the responsibility of the property owner. However, most are now maintained by South West Water. If you have any problems, like a blockage, with your sewer or lateral drain, then you should contact South West Water.
South West Water has a right to enter your property if it needs to do this in order to inspect or maintain the sewer.
You might have a private sewer or lateral drain if you live on a site that has several properties, for example a block of flats or a caravan site.
If you have a private or unadopted sewer, and own a property, you are responsible for the cost of maintaining and repairing it. If the sewer serves several properties, all the owners are jointly responsible for these costs.
If you're not sure whether your property is connected to a public sewer or a private one, you can:
Please note: Our Environmental Health department can order you to repair or unblock a private sewer or drain if it’s not properly maintained. If you don’t do the work in the time period specified by the notice, then we may carry out the work in default and charge you for it.
Only report a problem with wastewater, sewers or drains that are both: