Boggy Garden
11 comments
Does anyone else suffer from drains flooding?
Where I live I come under Southern Water. Everynow and then my garden floods with sewage water! Agh!!!!! I here you all scream and shout. It’s not nice, it’s not smelly but obviously it’s not good for you.
This happens because the main sewer about 3 manholes south of the one in the road blocks. It then backlogs to the man hole in the road close to my house. Because we are on a slight slope, and my back garden is approximately 4ft drop out my back door, the garden is obviously a lot lower than in the road.
When I call the engineers, if I’m lucky there are a couple who come out clear the blockage explain to me where the blockage was(it’s always in the same place) and keep telling me to write,email and generally complain. This i do.
You’ve guessed it they write back telling me drains on my property are my responsibility, which I know. I constantly tell them where the problem is, the engineers say every time they have their meetings it gets mentioned yet all Souther Water does is tell me to call if it happens again.
As you can imagine been here almost 2 yrs, I think i’ve called well over a dozen times.
So after the snow on Sunday we then had another sewer incident and yet again my garden was flooded.
The pics are of my patio area, but obviously the water goes down my garden(its on a slight slope) this is why i believe stays boggy in areas. Does anyone else have problems like this?
I know Watch Dog have been doing something about it, but the poor people on TV have had their homes flooded, I only have the garden.
I would be interested to know if anyone else within the southern Water area also suffers.
Thanks.
8 Apr, 2008
0 likes
Previous post: Caught with my Pants Down
Next post: Garden visiting
Comments
You poor thing! Are any of your neighbours affected? If so, it would help for more people to complain, I'm sure. What a pain. I hope it gets sorted out ASAP.
8 Apr, 2008
Your MP might be cheaper than a solicitor?
8 Apr, 2008
The last time it happened was new year and I sent a letter to the Consumer Council for Water. They lent on Southern Water a bit, saying if they dont respond within so many days then they will give you some money. obviously I'm not interested in their money and as it happend they responded on the last day anyway. I will have to give them a couple of days this time but I shall definately be getting in touch with local MP. Cheers Andrew.
8 Apr, 2008
Threatening them with publicity might also help - ie newspapers!
8 Apr, 2008
You could get the Environmental Health Department of your local authority to come and have a look, it's considered a health hazard to have raw sewage on your property. This is negligence from Southern Water and could potentially be a danger to yourself and other members of the area where you live. Keep a diary and record everything no matter how insignificant, even if you are feeling unwell. I have worked with a construction company who had SW as clients and they are as**oles in my opinion and the power of the company have no regard for the public.
Take some pictures of the SW manhole, particularly when it floods, this is disgusting and unacceptable that SW have not done anything after 2 years. If any property, even plants die or get damaged, record it, photograph it and try and get it sorted. I wish you luck, you are going to need it and if you want any advice (free!!!!!) send me a message.
List of things to do;
Call Environmental Health at your local authority
Show them pictures and any evidence you have and the manhole
Are any of your neighbours effected? If so ask them to get involved and let them know what you are doing
Get back in touch with the Consumer Council for Water and tell them you are not interested in the money but you want the problem sorted
Keep writing letters. Do you have any correspondence (letters/emails) from SW. Make sure you keep it.
Get in touch with your local MP, he will know of other departments at the local authority who can help.
9 Apr, 2008
PS, I am good at writing letters that get stuff done so if you need any help, let me know!!
9 Apr, 2008
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1991/ukpga_19910056_en_1
Thios is the Water Industry Act 1991. I think that SW have breached a couple of the sections in this legislation, but you have a read and see what you think? The sections that may be more relevant are between 27 - 75 (numbers on the left)
Also section 94 about General duty to provide sewerage system will also be relevant to you and by the sound of it SW are failing to maintain a proper removal of effluence and are in breach of this section. When you write your next letter, send it to their Director.
9 Apr, 2008
Here are some links to other SW matters regarding sewage, there may be some contacts on there who you can help you?
http://shepwaylibdems.org.uk/news/000947/southern_water_take_action_on_st_nicholas_road_sewer_after_lib_dem_pressure.html
http://www.haylingtoday.co.uk/news/Broken-sewer-sparks-harbour-pollution.3938451.jp
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/7110102.stm
Just copy and paste the links on to your web browser and they should pop up!
9 Apr, 2008
Thanks Andrearichter thats fantastic. I shall let you all know how I get on.
9 Apr, 2008
Good Luck Trees&things with ur Task of getting some where with the Company :D
9 Apr, 2008
Recent posts by treesandthings
- Results are in.
10 Jul, 2013
- My hedge has had a facelift
22 Jun, 2013
- I built a garden in two hours...
18 May, 2013
- Build a garden in two hours!
17 May, 2013
- Another week 2nd May
2 May, 2013
- 24 April and sunny with my little helper.
24 Apr, 2013
awwwww that is such a shame. would they move faster on fixing this problem if they received a solicitor's letter, bet they would. friend of mine in scotland was getting nowhere with a problem like yours until he got a solicitor to write to them.. week later problem sorted.
8 Apr, 2008