I live in an end-terrace house with a shared waste run serving 4 properties. The runs collect on my property and then run out under my front garden to the main sewer.
I’ve had a blocked inspection pit in my garden for about a week now, with raw sewage water running across the pavement.
I have insurance for blocked drains and the company has sent engineers out, but they say the blockage is beyond my property under the pavement or road and, as I have shared system, they won’t unblock it and that it will need a CCTV inspection which they will not provide.
The main sewer runs along the centre of the road. I was advised to get in touch with Thames Water. They said, and here’s the astounding bit, that the pipe between my property and the main sewer is my responsibility (well, technically a shared responsibility between the four houses). This means that, in the worst-case scenario of a collapsed sewer we would have to pay thousands (literally!) for the road to be dug up and the pipe repaired.
So, let me get this right: if traffic travelling along the road (I’m on a school run) causes vibrations which, in turn, causes the feeder pipe to the sewer to collapse, it’s my problem? The answer appears to be “yes”.

This is deeply depressing…and totally unjust. And I was only talking to SWMBO about a new Omega last night…well, that’s down the drain now.
