On the 1st of October, Welsh Water assumed responsibility for managing the private sewers network in our operational area. We welcome this as a big step forward in customer service, and one that will lead to more effective management of the sewerage network.
Thousands of people in our area will no longer have to worry about repairs and maintenance of drains and sewers that until now have been privately owned.
The transfer of 17,000 kms of private sewers and drains will doubled the size of the network Welsh Water operates, so it’s a massive additional responsibility. We’ve done a lot of work to prepare for this event and written to all our 1.2 million customers. And, we’ve been working with many other organisations to make the transfer as smooth as possible.
The size of the transfer inevitably means that we won’t be able to fix all problems immediately. It’s going to take time and we will have to prioritise work so that the most urgently needed repairs are dealt with first. Please be assured that we will do our best to tackle all problem areas as quickly as we can.
Background to ‘The Private Sewer Transfer’
Did you know that prior to the 1st of October unless your sewers had been formally adopted, or your property was built prior to 1937, that you were responsible for the pipe that connected your household waste to the public sewer including the bit that passed under the highway?
Sometimes the only way you could find out, is, if a problem occured and the sewer needed a repair or maintenance work. The cost of repair then had to be covered by all the households connected to that sewer.
The ‘Private Sewer Transfer’ means that Government Regulations have transferred ownership of a vast number of private sewers which were the responsibility and ownership of home owners and businesses to Welsh Water. We envisage that this change has meant that the total length of wastewater network in Welsh Water responsibility has doubled in size.
Whilst this means a dramatic increase in our workload, Welsh Water supports this transfer, as we believe that it is good for our customers and has:
- Removed the unfair burden on customers currently served by these pipes.
- Provided much greater clarity on ownership and responsibilities.
- Ensured that the cost of maintenance and repairs will be distributed more fairly.
Much of the sewer network is in disrepair and will take some time to sort out. Rest assured we will deal with blockage problems as they arise but, it will mean that we will have to prioritise any major repairs in order to tackle the most pressing problems first.
You can do your bit to help us by avoiding blockages occuring
Click here to veiw the 'Vesting Declaration for Transfer of Private Sewers'.