Leaky external drain pipe. Can it be ignored?

[Jotch Bob]

Thanks for your replies

 

[CBW]

Looks like it’s not in correctly, I’d get it sorted before it gets worse - and you know it’ll happen in winter.

 

[lostinthelight]

Looks as if the downpipe has slipped down so the socket has pulled out of line with the branch.
If that is the case then slackening them and lifting on the lower vertical pipe would bring it back in line giving better deeper fit in the socket.
Edit:
Just read "bath"
Whats waste water doing running in rain water pipe?

 

[pcaouolte]

Why is the wastewater from the upstairs bath draining into a rainwater pipe?

 

[Agile-Services]

That is contrary to the water regulations.

Most homes, especially older ones, have separate foul water and rainwater drains.

A friend whose system is incorrect was recently visited by Inspectors from the local water supplier who were investigating a case of foul water entering a local stream because her kitchen sink and washing machine had been wrongly connected to the rainwater drain.

She has been given two weeks to make arrangements to correct her drainage.

Significant penalties can result from polluting local streams where the rainwater is drained into.

 

[CBW]

@Agile-Services I’m inclined to disagree, many properties I find, especially older ones have combined wastewater and rainwater pipes.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

If it's a pre 1960's build, chances are the Bathroom wastes go into a hopper, which then connects into the rainwater downpipe, before discharging both to an open Gulley, on a 'Combined' Drainage system. Here someone has replaced the original cast iron rainwater goods with a square plastic system. (Badly by the look of things!)

There are instances where a 'Separate' system of drainage are used in newer builds, and sewage and rainwater are kept strictly apart in separate sewer systems. Then people either dont understand or cant be bothered to do the job properly, connect a waste pipe to a rainwater drain, and wonder why the Water Company are knocking on the door regarding a Cross Connection.

 

[JohnD]

Most homes, especially older ones, have separate foul water and rainwater drains.

It varies by district as well as age. When I lived in London, we had combined drainage, but a neighbour whose house looked similar had a soakaway.

Some houses in the same borough backing onto a stream had the rainwater piped to it, and had the trouble you describe when some of them plumbed washing machines to the rainwater pipes.

Where I live now there are numerous streams and old culverts, including some that have been built over, and the roads and houses discharge rainwater into them. I once reported a nearby factory that had been washing out chemical or solvent barrels in the yard and poisoned a stream.

 

[Jotch Bob]

It is an older property on a combined system.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

@Agile-Services I’m inclined to disagree, many properties I find, especially older ones have combined wastewater and rainwater pipes.

Which basically means the water authority have to treat all of the water, at great expense, rather than just the foul water. Straight forward rainwater can usually go untreated, into local rivers and streams.

 

[CBW]

Which basically means the water authority have to treat all of the water, at great expense, rather than just the foul water. Straight forward rainwater can usually go untreated, into local rivers and streams.

Yes, but it’s the way it was done years ago - don’t shoot the messenger

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Which basically means the water authority have to treat all of the water, at great expense, rather than just the foul water. Straight forward rainwater can usually go untreated, into local rivers and streams.

Firstly, the Water Companies treat sewage, not Local Authorities. Most Sewage Treatment Works have 'Storm Tanks' which will collect and hold a volume of storm effluent, which is returned into the works and treated as normal once the incoming flow slows down again. Once these are full, anything surplus is discharged to the environment, but this is already diluted and suspended matter has had the chance to settle out.

Secondly, some of these combined systems date from Victorian times, and there are some absolute works of art in terms of brick built sewers and chambers. They'd only just worked out that diseases such as Cholera and Typhoid, were actually waterborne and not airborne, so the need for a proper sanitation system was urgent.

Therefore sewer systems began to be constructed, most of which discharged onto low lying land at the bottom of the area being drained. The effluent was discharged onto the land and allowed to decompose, then they relied on a good storm to arrive, the volume of rainwater gave the system a good wash out and helped clear the leach field, and allow the cycle to start again.

I just pity those downstream, as they would often be drawing their drinking water from the stream or river, which everyone upstream was chucking their sewage into....

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Therefore sewer systems began to be constructed, most of which discharged onto low lying land at the bottom of the area being drained. The effluent was discharged onto the land and allowed to decompose, then they relied on a good storm to arrive, the volume of rainwater gave the system a good wash out and helped clear the leach field, and allow the cycle to start again.

You missed the bit about even modern treatment works, when they are overcome - they discharge untreated straight into the streams, rivers and sea. An authority on the south/east has just been majorly fined, for regularly saving money by not treating, but discharging untreated sewage.

 

[jacko555]

An authority on the south/east has just been majorly fined, for regularly saving money by not treating, but discharging untreated sewage.

Yes. Charlatans.

I want a refund for the money they charged me for waste water management when they just dumped it into the sea.

90 million fine isn't enough.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

You missed the bit about even modern treatment works, when they are overcome - they discharge untreated straight into the streams, rivers and sea. An authority on the south/east has just been majorly fined, for regularly saving money by not treating, but discharging untreated sewage.

Have you got a Link to this please? Afraid the Media are quite happy to exaggerate matters, not saying it cant happen, but there would have to be a catastrophic chain of events for this to happen. Works are built with a 'Storm Overflow on the Inlet works, once flow goes over the limit the site can treat successfully, additional flow will weir over and start filling the storm tanks. Only once these are full will anything get discharged off site.

For raw sewage to be discharged, the works would have to have an issue, e.g. screens blocked, then fill the storm tanks, before anything could leave site untreated. There will be a system of alarms in place to warn the site operations team of rising levels, screen malfunction, storm tanks filling and then a discharge from the storm tanks, all these warnings would have to be ignored.

Seen numerous claims about discharges from Combined Storm Overflows, again it is not impossible to have a discharge of raw sewage, but this usually is a result of blocked pipework, causing effluent to back up in the system before overflowing. In times of rainfall, these are doing exactly as they are designed to do, that is allowing excess water, (sewage heavily diluted with rainwater), to overflow, usually into a watercourse receiving runoff already, to prevent surcharging of the downstream network and possible flooding.