washing machine and possibly WC into rainwater drain

[pythoncoder]

Hi all

I'm looking to partition my integrated garage so that the front is used for storage and the rear is a utility room with a possible WC.

The property is detached with access on either side and there is a rain water drain on the side wall of the garage.

When I purchased the house a few months ago, the search indicated that:

"surface water from the property drains into a public sewer".

Does this mean I can use the rainwater drain on the sidewall of my garage for the washing machine waste?

Could I modify this for use for WC?

Thanks

 

[VDubDan]

Potentially, but you'd need to understand the drainage system better.

For example, on my house, everything (literally everything) converged into a single clay pipe run from the back of the house to the sewer - so I was able to run all of my new drainage to the clay pipe. I can't see why you couldn't run grey water into the drain directly - that's just the same as an outdoor gulley which is pretty common (In fact, I have one of those too!). Obviously toilet waste would need to go directly to the main run, and that's the side you'd probably want to investigate more - ensuring nothing weird has been done, checking the size of the pipe etc.

In the short term, you can verify the fact by putting some dye into the drain and running some water through it to see if it comes out at your sewer manhole

 

[Nige F]

"surface water from the property drains into a public sewer".

Does this mean I can use the rainwater drain on the sidewall of my garage for the washing machine waste?

Could I modify this for use for WC?

Thanks

NO - it could be a rainwater sewer - Sewer doesn't necessarily mean foul water .

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

NO - it could be a rainwater sewer - Sewer doesn't necessarily mean foul water .

Correct, some areas have separated systems for rain water and toilet/grey water. Connecting to the wrong one can involve big fines once they trace the source back to the culprit. Don't take a builders word for it, make sure - you will be fined as the home owner.

 

[pythoncoder]

Thank you for the advice, everyone. I'll do some further investigation.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

When I purchased the house a few months ago, the search indicated that:

"surface water from the property drains into a public sewer".

No, all this means is you dont have a soakaway or alternative means of rainwater drainage, so will be liable for Surface Water Drainage charges from the Water Company. As above, you will need to ascertain where the foul sewers run, and make a connection into those, dont assume anything without checking.