Blocked sewer causing leak from wall 1 m above sewer!!!!!

[Marcusbrittanicus]

Ok, here is a head scratcher.
I have a 3 storey house, pre 1937.
To the rear is a lawn on the left and a patio on the right.
The rear lane is 3m lower than the lawn so a pathway with steps down to lane level passes between the patio and the lawn.
According to deeds the drain runs under this pathway.
I am getting waste water (mixed) leaking from the wall on the right of the pathway some 1m above drain level when taps are turned on for around ten minutes.
It is actually squirting out between brickwork.
I have run rods down with a rubber disc on the end to the boundary, no obstructions found.
I think it is backing up from a blockage beyond my boundary.

So, any ideas how I go about dealing with this?

Do I get a contractor in and if the blockage is outside my boundary will South West Water have to pay for it?

Is section 26 for pre-1937 property still in effect?

Any ideas would be welcome, I am pulling my hair out here....

Regards,

Mark

 

[Ian H]

Phone South West Water first.

Does it only happen when you use the sink or also when you flush the toilet?

Were you pushing the rods through water or was the drain clear?

You could have a blocked gully with the water escaping between the pot and the hopper.

 

[Marcusbrittanicus]

Phone South West Water first.

Does it only happen when you use the sink or also when you flush the toilet?

Were you pushing the rods through water or was the drain clear?

You could have a blocked gully with the water escaping between the pot and the hopper.

_______________________________________________________________________

Hello Ian and thank you for taking the time to reply.
Leak is present no matter what the source of the water is.
All waste water goes down the same pipe, house is 1895 build.
Needs a while to 'back up' enough to begin flowing out of the wall.
The drain was clear of water initially, I turned the water on later to see if it was indeed from my property.
At that point I could sluice water back and forth in the drain with the rods.
Once the water source was off it drains down from the wall in a few minutes.

Got SWW coming this morning, or their contractor at least.

They will ascertain the cause and solution and who is liable.
If it is my problem they will offer me a quote to do the work right there and then but will not return to do the work once they have left the site.

Are the water companies contractors competitive in your opinion??

Regards

Mark

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

Water Companies are responsible for shared drains, and any drain serving a single property, once that drain passes under the boundary into a neighbouring property or public highway. If the problem is found to be within your boundaries, then you could be liable for the bill, (it's worth checking if your home insurance would cover any costs), but as you mention it appears to be clear up to and past your boundary, then fingers crossed SWW will sort it FOC.

 

[Marcusbrittanicus]

FIXED
I had SWW contractor come down, very helpful, he camera and washed it out for free!
The problem was still there but at least I knew how far down the line it was.
So I basically got my SDS and followed the leak into the wall. After removing the 3rd brick layer around 100 litres of the 3 P's poured out all over my legs!!
It turns out some muppet had buried an inspection chamber under the patio.......
The chamber was full of baby wipes, around 50Kg I reckon.
So by this evening the blockage will be cleared, brickwork repaired, chamber extended to ground level with a new cover.

 

[John D v2.0]

Oh yeah our chamber was under the drive concrete for over 30 years before it was needed. Eventually the water co had to dig it out to clear a blockage. But they wouldn't repair the chamber and put a new cover on it. Glad you found it in the end.

 

[Agile]

FIXED
I had SWW contractor come down, very helpful, he camera and washed it out for free!
The problem was still there but at least I knew how far down the line it was.
So I basically got my SDS and followed the leak into the wall. After removing the 3rd brick layer around 100 litres of the 3 P's poured out all over my legs!!
It turns out some muppet had buried an inspection chamber under the patio.......
The chamber was full of baby wipes, around 50Kg I reckon.
So by this evening the blockage will be cleared, brickwork repaired, chamber extended to ground level with a new cover.

So this inspection chamber is on your main drain which has been rodded and TV inspected???

So it is still blocked somewhere and just backing up into the newly discovered chamber??

Tony