Sewer Repairs in Nottingham

Private Drain vs Shared Sewer — Who Is Responsible?

The boundary matters before any repair work is quoted. Drains that serve only your property and run within your boundary are your responsibility. Once a drain is shared with a neighbouring property, or connects to the public sewer running in the highway, responsibility passes to Severn Trent Water. We confirm which situation applies — using CCTV to trace the run if needed — before quoting any repair. We will not charge you to fix something that Severn Trent should be fixing.

Common Sewer Faults

Cracked or fractured joints are the most widespread issue in Nottingham, where much of the sewer network is still original Victorian-era clay running beneath streets lined with mature trees. Root intrusion follows those cracks — roots grow in progressively, eventually forming a dense mass that restricts flow. Displaced or misaligned joints result from ground movement, a problem seen particularly where development has altered the ground conditions near older drainage. Partial and full collapse occur at the end of these failure chains, and corrosion in older cast-iron or pitch-fibre sections adds further failure modes in some parts of the city.

No-Dig Repair vs Excavation

Drain relining is possible for cracks, root ingress, and displaced joints where the pipe retains enough shape to allow a liner to be pulled through and inflated. Collapsed sections, and joint failures where the pipe has lost its round profile entirely, require excavation and replacement. A CCTV survey determines which applies before any quote is given — we do not offer relining and then discover on the day that excavation is required.

Shared Sewers

Where a fault is on a shared sewer rather than your private drain, we can advise on the Severn Trent reporting process and liaise with their team if needed. Sewage surfacing from a shared sewer is classified as a priority fault by the water company and should be reported directly to Severn Trent as well as investigated. We can provide the CCTV evidence needed to support that report.

Related services: drain relining, collapsed drain repair, blocked sewer clearing.