Member Article

On 1 October 2011 all private sewers and lateral drains in existence on 1 July 2011 that drain to the public network will transfer to the ownership of the water and sewerage companies.

This transfer will apply to residential and commercial properties in England and Wales. It will bring about the biggest change in responsibility for sewerage services since 1937.

There will be a second transfer of private sewers and lateral drains that are connected to the public network between 1 July 2011 and the date that s 42 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 comes into force - that date is not yet known.

New private sewers and drains that are to connect to the public network once s 42 is in force must be built to a minimum national standard and the owner must first enter into an adoption agreement with the sewerage company before the connection can be made. There will be a Government consultation on the new build standard, expected to be issued in July.

To be classed as a ‘sewer’ a pipe must serve more than one property whereas a drain serves only one property. A lateral drain is the section of a drain that extends beyond the property boundary. So as a result of the proposed transfer in October a property owner will only be responsible for drains within its property boundary.

Pumping stations and associated pressurised or rising mains on the transferred systems will transfer to the water companies progressively over the following five years, by 1 October 2016 at the latest. Current industry estimates indicate that there might be up to 33,000 sewage pumping stations eligible for transfer.

It has been estimated that up to 50% of properties in England and Wales are connected to a private sewer. Householders in particular are often unaware that they are responsible for the maintenance and repair of their private sewers. The cost of the transfer will be met by an increase in the sewerage element of bills across the water companies. Should owners not want their sewer or lateral drain to transfer, an appeal procedure is available.

Only lateral drains and sewers that drain directly to the public sewerage system are included in the transfer. So, for example, surface water sewers that drain direct to watercourses are not included, nor sewers that drain to private treatment facilities, including cess pools and septic tanks. Private sewers and lateral drains owned by a railway undertaker are also not included, and Crown bodies had the option of opting out of the transfer in relation to their Crown land by 1 July 2011.

Pipework on a property in common ownership is not regarded as a sewer where the property itself comprises a single curtilage. Properties that the Government considers to comprise a single curtilage and to which the regulations do not apply include caravan parks, airports, ports, railway stations and some commercial or industrial sites. The Government will issue informal guidance on this and other aspects of the transfer now that the regulations are made final.

If any sewers or lateral drains connected to the public network on 1 July 2011 are the subject of a pre-existing adoption agreement in place before that date, the agreement will be treated as terminating immediately before those sewers and drains are vested in the water company. The vesting date is the earlier of the date specified in the adoption agreement and 1 October 2011. The water companies will be able to use the financial/bond provisions to recover expenditure they incur on work carried out to the sewers and drains before the vesting date.

Landowners who have granted an easement for a private sewer or lateral drain may also be affected by the transfer. Some landowners obtain the right to insist on the sewer being diverted should the landowner want to develop the land. This right will be lost once the private sewer transfers. Water and sewerage companies have discretionary powers to charge a landowner for diverting a sewer. In this situation landowners can appeal against a transfer if they consider that the transfer may have a detrimental effect on them.

The regulations for the transfer are the Water Industry (Schemes for Adoption of Private Sewers) Regulations 2011 that came into force on 1 July 2011.