Private road and flooding drains

[James_P]

hi all. We live on a private road and the drain outside our house for a number of years has been flooding the road. The committee have had it gulped a couple of times over the last 3 or 4 years but they know that the drains need completely replacing. After tonight's heavy rain it has now overflowed not for the first time into our drive and down into our garage which is connected to our home. Luckily I had some sand bags and kept the water out of the kitchen.

We have requested a meeting with the committee urgently to discuss options but does anyone have experience on what our rights are here? If the drains on a council road were shown to be sub standard and not just blocked causing flooding could you take the council to court? The road has over 100k in the accounts and they are very reluctant to spend anything as far as we can see.

[guindilias]

Have they had a proper gully sucker out, one with a big tank and a big hose they put down to remove the slops?

[m3jappa]

Not much help but could you put a raised lip at the front to divert elsewhere? Or can your drains on your drive be changed for something like acos which could connect into a storm drain(assuming you have one).

[James_P]

Hi, yes they have done in the past, the last time was a couple of years ago. There are some big old trees that have destroyed the drains apparently so clearing them works but only temporarily

Many thanks

[James_P]

m3jappa said:

Not much help but could you put a raised lip at the front to divert elsewhere? Or can your drains on your drive be changed for something like acos which could connect into a storm drain(assuming you have one).

Hi, yes we have a decent (clear) drain connected to the sewer in front of garage but the volume of water that came down would overflow any drain.. The garage door wouldn't open with the weight of water behind it! We have a rubber strip to block leaves which gives a good seal but water found its way through.

[guindilias]

Not sure how it works with a private drain running off into a council one, but nearly any bust drain can be lined - basically a big sock gets blown into it, then inflated, than cured - it's fast and easy, not cheap but normally cheaper than dig&replace.

[rog007]

Do you have any house or committee-type insurance that may cover it?

[James_P]

guindilias said:

Not sure how it works with a private drain running off into a council one, but nearly any bust drain can be lined - basically a big sock gets blown into it, then inflated, than cured - it's fast and easy, not cheap but normally cheaper than dig&replace.

Interesting, will see if this is something that can be looked at, thanks

[James_P]

rog007 said:

Do you have any house or committee-type insurance that may cover it?

I am covered and am sure the road has some sort of insurance, I will be asking what cover the road has since the road drain is directly causing my property to flood.

[Chrisgr31]

We had an issue with the drain outside our house not draining. It was a council drain, they came out and gulped it but it didnt fix the problem. They came out again gulped the other drains and then jetted it.. That cleared it.

[w1bbles]

Drains tend to be water companies rather than councils. If you call your water company they may be able to give you some informal advice (because it’s a private issue) if they come out to assess the situation. For example, they could pinpoint the location of the blockage so you address a specific area yourself. They won’t pay for it though.

Who is your water company? I have a fairly reasonable knowledge of this through work, particularly if you are a customer of Southern, Anglian, UU, Yorkshire, Northumbrian or Scottish.

[James_P]

Thanks for the replies.

There is a main sewer running down under the centre of the road, I need to look at the searches when we moved here but believe the gullies are under the private road responsibility. Don't know if the water of the gullies run into this.

SES are our water company

[WhiskyDisco]

We live on a private road with 12 drains. Every year or two we ask the council to "clear the gullies" and they come and clear them out. It takes less than an hour and costs roughly £120. Sounds liuke you need this doing. With the reserves you have you could do this every year.

[Darkslider]

I did this for a job briefly. If it's blocking up inside of 12 months after being jetted it sounds like it's collapsing or has a dropped joint somewhere, common with clay pipework but almost guaranteed with the pitch fibre that was popular soil pipe for a spell.

I'd suggest getting it jetted again then CCTV surveyed immediately after while it's clear, most jetting companies will offer such a service. You'll get a written report with defects listed, their locations and recommended solutions.

[Nice But Dim]

I can sympathise with the OP - live on a unadopted road private responsibility. But up the hill is usual country lane with all the drain either blocked or overwhelmed.

Spent most of yesterday evening unblocking the drains on the road which were full of leaves and partly or mostly blocked. Council are rubbish.

Will try the Water Company now.......

To try and stop the water coming in over the drive and swoothing down towards the house I installed my own drainsystem to mange the excess water flow around and away. Definitely helps but really need to get the drains in the road sorted. Sadly our neighbours seemingly dont guve a s**t

[Drawweight]

Surely any damage to your property can be laid at the door of the committee.

It’s not as if they don’t know about the problem, which would be better if there was a paper trail from you.

The threat of that might sharpen their minds a bit.

[xx99xx]

James_P said:

If the drains on a council road were shown to be sub standard and not just blocked causing flooding could you take the council to court? The road has over 100k in the accounts and they are very reluctant to spend anything as far as we can see.

I suspect it would need to be proven that the owner was negligent and that caused/contributed to the damage. So if you can prove the owner was aware of an issue and had no plans to rectify it then you may have a case. But just because drains overflow and cause flooding doesn't always mean someone is to blame.

Definitely start with a jetting and CCTV survey, hopefully arranged by the committee. Can't really do anything else until you know what the issue is. Worth engaging the water company too in case the sewer is a combined overflow as that may also be contributing to the problem.

[ukwill]

I feel your pain OP. We are in an identical position.

I’m hopeful that (thanks to the freak storms we’ve had this year especially) the road committee are finally going to engage civil engineers to resolve this once and for all - the road drainage was only meant for a few houses, but a century or so later there are now approx 150 on our loop. New houses have gone up with curbs which has exacerbated the problem. We spent a fair chunk on drainage for our own property, but it has its limits.

Until the fundamental issue is resolved, we have purchased these
http://www.ecoblokltd.com/flexiblok/4586666955

Much better than sandbags!

I hope you get it sorted.