Drains - to map or not to map

[Paul-man]

I appreciate the reason behind the debate you chaps are having. Ideally I'd like to do as much of the work DIY as possible, but there comes a point where lack of equipment or know-how can get in the way or be cost prohibitive.

In my case, I have now worked out what the manholes I can see are for, which has already given me some ideas about where my new drains will need to go. I'm none the wiser to the location of my sewer drains though. Any "DIY" equipment I could use to help me out? There is possibly a manhole under my decking, but there is black weed control sheeting weighted down with slabs under there, so the whole lot is going to have to come up to check. (It was going to come up for the build anyway)

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I was expecting wavetrain to wave his magic wand and conjure up the DIY solution!

 

[wavetrain]

I did wave my magic wand and the OP has now confessed that there is a load of decking covering ground that he has not checked for an inspection chamber lid. Tut tut

 

[Paul-man]

Well you both made me think more about the practicalities- and the threat of a £200 payment meant that the wife was more co-operative about watching down the manholes while I poured water etc.

I'm definitely happier knowing where the rainwater goes, especially as I won't have to dig a soakaway!

I'll leave finding the sewers to the builder- worst case scenario is a new connection into the public manhole (if Anglian agree)

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Yea but that's just the kind of unknowns you need to avoid, connecting to the mains can sometimes be fraught with delays and other hassles and of course delays to drainage can cause massive delays (and consequently costs) to the whole job, I know this from bitter experience. A new connection to a public sewer would need to be applied for and certain criteria met. I don't know how co-operative (or not) Anglian Water are to deal with. Some authorities are awkward to say the least! Better hope there's no public sewers within 3m of the new foundations too as that's a world you don't wanna enter either!

I'm not sure I follow with your rainwater comments though, you know you can't drain surface water into the mains and any new surface water will needs its own new soakaway BTW.

 

[Richard C]

Just to reiterate; even though you may have an existing rainwater discharge into the foul drain, the local water authority & by-laws are unlikely to permit any new connection except under extenuating circumstances, you will almost certainly need new soak away’s.

 

[Paul-man]

Just to reiterate; even though you may have an existing rainwater discharge into the foul drain, the local water authority & by-laws are unlikely to permit any new connection except under extenuating circumstances, you will almost certainly need new soak away’s.

The surface water doesn't go into the foul. The public sewer map shows two separate routes up the road. There are two heavy duty covers in the road which seem to correlate to their plan.

 

[Paul-man]

Yea but that's just the kind of unknowns you need to avoid, connecting to the mains can sometimes be fraught with delays and other hassles and of course delays to drainage can cause massive delays (and consequently costs) to the whole job, I know this from bitter experience. A new connection to a public sewer would need to be applied for and certain criteria met. I don't know how co-operative (or not) Anglian Water are to deal with. Some authorities are awkward to say the least! Better hope there's no public sewers within 3m of the new foundations too as that's a world you don't wanna enter either!

I'm not sure I follow with your rainwater comments though, you know you can't drain surface water into the mains and any new surface water will needs its own new soakaway BTW.

Thanks Freddys, With regards to rain, I was (still am) considering a Rainwater Harvesting System, which is why I was curious as to the location of the existing rainwater runs. When I say mains, I mean the main surface water pipes which seem to run parallel up the street to the sewerage.(Should I call these Storm Drains?) Would an option be to run the rainwater from my new roof plus the rear of the existing roof into a RWH system and divert any overflow back to the original storm drains? That way, most of the time, I am putting less rain into the Anglian's system than before and only when my RHW tank is full, would I be putting an additional load on their system.

Sewerage- I agree that connecting to the existing public sewer would not be preferable and I can see how it would be difficult. My neighbours and our sewerage MUST get to the public sewer across my land and likely to be across the building site, therefore "Plan A" would be to connect to it as it crosses the land. Are there any rules that prevent me popping the lid of the public sewer to have a look at what angle the pipe runs in? I am aware they are very heavy.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Personally if it were me, if needs be I'd just dig a new soakaway in the back garden.

Re lifting a public manhole, I guess it may not be strictly legal, I don't know, just do it if you can (you may need some lifting handles) and don't drop it down the hole or you'll be making an embarrassing phone call to the Anglian Water!