Our sewerage services

Transcription

Our sewerage services - how we deal with your used water
www.nwl.co.uk
4196 NW Sewersge sevices v15.indd 1
15/08/2013 16:24
Our sewerage
services
A sewer is a pipe which
carries and removes either
rain water or foul water
from more than
one property.
This leaflet gives details of
the services we provide to
deal with your used water.
It also explains what your
rights are, and what to do if
things go wrong.
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How to contact us
By telephone:
0845 733 5566* (8.00am until 8.00pm,
Monday to Friday, 8.00am until 1.00pm
Saturdays) for billing and account enquiries.
0845 717 1100* for general enquiries
about water and sewerage services.
Monday to Friday, from 8.00am until
8.00pm, and Saturday from 9.00am until
1.00pm. This number is also available 24
hours for emergencies.
0800 393 084 to report a leak (freephone
from a landline).
0800 328 7648 – Floodline.
Deaf and hard of hearing customers can
contact us using Text Relay – just prefix any
of our listed numbers with 18001 and a Text
Relay operator will join the call. Alternatively
you can let us know the name of someone
you trust who has agreed to talk to us on
your behalf.
Contact us by email through our website
www.nwl.co.uk
Contact us on Twitter
@nwater_care
In writing:
Northumbrian Water
PO Box 200
Durham
DH1 5WQ
0870 240 3549 – for leisure enquiries
(9.00am until 5.00pm, Monday to Friday).
*Calls may be monitored and recorded in order to
improve service quality and employee training.
We offer a free telephone translation service
if English is not your first language. Just tell
us which language you speak and we will
arrange for an interpreter to join the call.
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What should and
shouldn’t go down
the sewer
Sewers are designed to carry water, liquid
and solid bodily waste and toilet paper.
They are not waste disposal units, but
increasing amounts of litter are being flushed
down the toilet. By flushing away condoms,
cotton buds, tights, disposable nappies,
sanitary products and their packaging, you
are likely to cause a problem in your drain
or the sewer. Blockages caused by these
things can lead to flooding to properties or
escapes of sewage to the environment.
Sewers are not the place for:
• Unwanted oil and grease – they may
be liquid in a warm kitchen, but they
quickly solidify and cause blockages
when they enter a cold sewer.
• Medical supplies – colostomy bags,
bandages, incontinence pads,
syringes, medicines.
• Chemicals – other than those designed
to be used in kitchens and drains.
Tree roots and building debris, such as
household bricks can also cause problems
and blockages within public sewers and
private drains, which can lead to flooding.
It is advisable for customers who are
concerned about trees or who have recently
carried out building work to carry out any
relevant checks to make sure that their
private drainage system is not
being obstructed.
Instead you should:
• Wait until cooking fat solidifies and then
put it into a container and place it in
the bin.
• Pour cooking and engine oil into a
strong container before disposing
responsibly.
If you would like a copy of our
Blockages leaflet, please visit our
website, www.nwl.co.uk or call us
on 0845 717 1100.
Only toilet paper, pee and poo go down
the loo.
Keep a separate bin for bathroom waste
such as cotton buds, cotton wool and
packaging from sanitary and other
bathroom products.
www.loveyourdrain.co.uk
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Our responsibility
for public sewers
Types of public
sewers
Maps of our public
sewers
Northumbrian Water is required by section
94 of the Water Industry Act 1991 to provide
and maintain a system of public sewers that
takes the waste water from your private
drains and sewers to our treatment works.
This system is called the sewerage network.
Foul sewers carry waste water. This is
water that has been used for cooking and
washing, and the waste from toilets and
trade premises to our waste water
treatment works.
By law, we are obliged to keep maps that
show the approximate position of public
sewers and you have a right to see our
records. To arrange this, please contact
us on 0845 717 1100.
Surface water sewers carry rainwater
that runs off roofed areas, pavements and
roads, usually into streams, rivers or
watercourses.
Alternatively you could contact your local
authority which should also be able to
help you.
In most cases, these sewers are found in
roads or public open spaces. In certain
circumstances, they may run through private
land, in which case we need to preserve the
right of access for maintenance and legal
protection against building over, or in close
proximity to our sewers.
Combined sewers carry both waste
water and surface water to our waste
water treatment works.
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Your drains
The Government transferred ownership
of private sewers and lateral drains from
private individuals to water and sewerage
companies on 1 October 2011. The
transfer included all drains and sewers
that were connected to the current public
sewerage system on 1 July 2011.
The transfer is good news for our
customers and has many benefits. The
Government believes the transfer will make
responsibilities for looking after drains much
clearer. This will mean less disputes and
worry about who is responsible for sorting
problems out, which can often be
expensive to put right. In the future, costs
will be shared equally across all customers
as part of the bill.
A private sewer is a pipe which drains
more than one property, which is
connected to the sewer, and is usually
the responsibility of each property owner
or housing association or management
company. A lateral drain serves one
property. The lateral drain is the length of
the drain that is outside the boundary of
the property.
The pictures on the next page show how
responsibilities have changed from
1 October 2011. You or your landlord
will still be responsible for the drains that
serve only your property and are within
its boundary, as well as gutters and
downpipes attached to your property.
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For a more detailed explanation, please visit www.nwl.co.uk and search for ‘private drains and sewers’ and select your property type from
our interactive diagram.
If you have an insurance policy that covers drainage
problems, please contact your insurer directly to discuss
whether this has changed at all. Remember, you will
still be responsible for some of the drains within your
property boundary.
Ownership of all other pipes which were connected to the
current public sewerage system on 1 July 2011 has
transferred to Northumbrian Water. Privately owned
sewage pumping stations are also expected to gradually
transfer to water company ownership by 2016. If you know
the details of a private pumping station, we would like to
hear from you. Please let us know by visiting our website,
www.nwl.co.uk.
Detailed information can also be found on our website
under the section Private drains and sewers or by
telephoning our Customer Centre on 0845 717 1100.
Not everything has transferred. Surface water sewers
draining directly to watercourses, land drainage and
highway drains, privately owned septic tanks, cesspits
and sewage treatment works have not and will not transfer.
If your property is not connected to the public sewer and uses a cesspit or septic tank, this forms part of your private drainage system.
You are responsible for emptying and maintaining this apparatus. This transfer does not affect pipes which bring water into your home.
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Other types of
drainage
Private or
unadopted sewers
There are other types of drainage which are
not Northumbrian Water’s responsibility. If
you have any concerns about them please
contact the relevant organisation.
• Local authorities – most drains around
council houses and most highway
drainage (gullies etc).
• Highways Agency - most drainage from
main roads (trunk roads).
• Environment Agency – flooding from
main rivers and the sea.
• Landowners – storm water running off
fields and farmland.
There are some sewers in our area that we
do not own. These are called private or
unadopted sewers. This means that when
they were built, or when they would normally
have become public sewers, the owner or
developer did not want them to become
public sewers, or they did not meet the
required construction standards. They have
remained privately owned, either by the
developer, or more likely, jointly owned by
the houses that they serve.
If you believe that we have unreasonably
refused a request for adoption of a sewer,
or have set unreasonable conditions, you
can appeal to Ofwat (see Independent
Review page).
We strongly recommend that when you
are buying a property, you instruct your
solicitor to verify whether any of the sewers
are unadopted.
You can apply for us to adopt the sewer
so that we, rather than you, become
responsible for it. Before we take
responsibility for it we will need to be
satisfied that it is in a suitable condition.
That means that if any work is needed to
bring the sewer up to adoption standards,
you would have to meet the costs. For
further details on how to go ahead with a
request for adoption, please contact us on
0845 717 1100.
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Alterations to
existing pipework
New connections
to sewers
If you are extending your home, building a
conservatory or are making any alterations
to your property which will need plumbing
or drainage works, you must make sure
that you connect to the correct private
drainage system. For example, all bathroom
and kitchen connections must be made to
the foul drainage system. Rain water
guttering should connect to the surface
water drainage system. The type of
drainage system that exists can be
confirmed by the local building control
department of the local authority, which will
be able to give you advice on these matters.
All domestic customers can apply to us to
connect their drains to the public sewerage
system as long as they agree to meet the
costs involved.
If you would like a copy of our leaflet for
guidance on pipe laying, All you need to
know, or for further advice or help please
visit our website at www.nwl.co.uk.
Alternatively you can contact our Customer
Centre on 0845 717 1100.
For each new connection you will have
to pay:
• Fees to us to cover those costs
incurred in dealing with the application
and inspecting the work carried out.
We can refuse permission for new
connections to our sewers if we think the
connection will have a detrimental effect on
them. For example, we will not allow a foul
drain connection to a surface water sewer.
If your sewerage connection is refused you
can refer the matter to our regulator, Ofwat.
Details of how to contact Ofwat can be
found on the Independent Review page.
•
An infrastructure charge. This is a
fixed contribution towards additional
investment in our local sewerage
network. This helps us to make sure
that we can continue to deliver the
same high standard of service to all
our customers, following the additional
demand of a new connection. Ofwat
sets the maximum infrastructure charge
for a domestic supply.
We offer two options for making a new
connection to an existing sewer.
1. Our approved contractor can carry out
the work for you at your expense.
2. You can request that we approve a
contractor of your choice to carry out
the work; please note that our consent
is not guaranteed.
In both cases, we will if requested, adopt a
lateral drain from a manhole at the boundary
of your property to the point of connection
with the existing public sewer.
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1 Our approved contractors
You can employ a contractor approved
by ourselves to carry out the connection
work for you. The contact details of these
contractors will be provided to you when
approval to your application is issued.
These contractors comply with all health
and safety, roads and streetworks and
standards of construction requirements.
If you choose this option, we will need a
connection application form to be submitted
along with a non-refundable administration
fee. A full and complete application will be
processed within 15 working days. When
your application is approved, you will be
issued with a unique reference number
without which the contractor will not
begin work.
This option will not only guarantee the
quality of the works carried out, but will also
ensure strict compliance with all relevant
health and safety legislation.
2 Contractor of your choice
You can request that we approve a
contractor of your choice to carry out the
work; please note that our consent is not
guaranteed. A connection application
form must be submitted along with a
non-refundable administration fee.
In addition, the contractor must provide a
method statement, risk assessment and
other evidence of competency (depending
on location and means of connection) for
approval. These documents can be
submitted with your initial application or
after we have approved your point of
connection to the sewer.
Your contractor will also need to comply
with all relevant legal requirements. For
example, all works in the street must
comply with the provisions of the New
Roads and Street Works Act and you will
be responsible for the subsequent
reinstatement. You will be required to
liaise directly with the Highway Authority
on these matters.
Connection approval is valid for a period
of 90 days. If the physical connection is not
carried out in this period a new application
must be made. A full and complete
application will be processed within
15 working days.
Guidance notes, current fees
and application forms for new
connections to sewers can be found
at www.nwl.co.uk.
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What if there is no
existing sewer?
Sometimes a new sewer may be needed
because there may be no existing sewer we
can use to serve your property. There are
two main ways for us to provide new
sewers. These are:
• By requisition (usually for new
properties) using the Water Industry
Act 1991, section 98, where you do not
have the powers to lay sewers through
third party land.
Or:
• As part of our first time sewerage
programme (usually for existing
properties) using Section 101A of
the Water Industry Act 1991.
Sewer requisitions First time
Where practicable, we will provide a newly
sewerage
requisitioned sewer as long as it serves two
or more properties. However, you and other
applicants must contribute towards the cost
of the project. The cost will be the difference
between the income we will receive from
waste water service charges over a 12 year
period and our reasonable costs in providing
the sewer. This is payable as a single lump
sum prior to the sewer being provided or
the amount is payable over 12 years. We
will also require some form of security before
beginning the feasibility study and design
work. Disputes about terms and conditions
of requisition agreements including costs
incurred can be referred to Ofwat
for determination.
Under the terms of the Water Industry Act
1991 we may be asked to provide a new
sewer in an area which is not currently
served by the public sewerage system
and the local private system causes
environmental problems. Any proposed
scheme must satisfy certain technical,
financial and environmental criteria to meet
the requirements of the Act.
Further details about sewer requisitions
or the provisions of the Water Industry
Act 1991, can be obtained by visiting
our website at www.nwl.co.uk or calling
us on 0845 717 1100.
For our part, we must provide the sewer
within six months of agreeing the
proposals and the associated costs and
receiving payment.
In 2003, the Water Industry Act 1991 was
amended to allow customers to request
lateral drainage connections from their
properties to be requisitioned in the same
way. Disputes about the reasonable costs
of providing lateral drains can be referred
to Ofwat.
15/08/2013 16:24
Sewage treatment
Public sewers bring domestic and industrial
waste waters to our sewage treatment
works for treatment and safe discharge to
the environment. After treatment, the
cleaned water goes to a nearby watercourse
or to the sea and must comply with
statutory consent conditions set by the
Environment Agency.
The Environment Agency is a statutory body
with its own powers and duties and was
established by the Government to protect
and enhance the environment. It monitors
the discharges to ensure compliance.
These results are placed on a public register.
Sewage sludge is produced as a by-product
of the sewage treatment process. The
sludge is further treated and recycled, in
accordance with statutory requirements
and approval by the Environment Agency.
We conduct our sewage treatment
operations with the aim of avoiding or
minimising any problems to the public.
If you believe that any of our activities are
causing you a problem, or you encounter
sewage odours, then please let us know
by contacting us on 0845 717 1100.
Further information about the sewage
treatment process can be found at
www.nwl.co.uk/your-home/learnabout-water/sewage-treatment.aspx.
Protection against
flooding from
public sewers
Public sewers are designed to protect
properties from the risk of flooding. Most
combined sewers have storm overflows
which are built to manage any heavy flows
through the public sewer, and help protect
our homes and businesses from flooding.
There are occasions when sewage flooding
does occur. We understand the distress and
inconvenience this may cause, particularly
when sewage enters your home. Most
sewage flooding incidents result from
overloaded sewers following heavy rainfall,
or blockages caused by misuse of the
drainage system.
If you suffer sewage flooding we are here
to help. Please immediately contact our
freephone flood line on 0800 328 7648.
We do our best to attend to a reported
incident of internal flooding within four
hours. However, while all available resources
will be provided to help you, in the event of
widespread damage as a result of storm
conditions, our representative’s initial visit
will be to check the condition of the sewers
to make sure there are no blockages within
the public sewerage system. Claims for loss
or damage must be directed to your own
insurers who will provide advice as to what
actions you should take to make sure the
terms and conditions of your policy are met.
We are not legally liable for loss or
damage by flooding from public sewers
unless we have been negligent. If the cause
of the problem is a blockage in our public
sewer, we will arrange for it to be cleared at
our cost. If you would like to check the
location of the public sewers, contact us
on 0845 717 1100.
We aim to deal with problems relating to
flooding promptly and to help as much as
we can afterwards.
For further advice on what to do in the event
of sewage flooding, view our leaflet Sewer
flooding on our website www.nwl.co.uk,
or call us on 0845 717 1100 to request
a copy.
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Payments and
guaranteed
standards of
service
If you suffer flooding from one of our public
sewers, we operate a scheme under our
guaranteed standards of service called Our
promise to you. To request a copy of this
leaflet, visit our website at www.nwl.co.uk
or alternatively call us on 0845 717 1100.
Our customer care package covers the
service standards we promise to deliver.
If we fail to meet any of these standards,
we will pay you compensation.
If the inside of your property is flooded from
one of our sewers, please contact us on
0845 717 1100 immediately. You should
also advise your insurer, who will be able
to provide advice about cleaning up. We
zwill try to visit you within four hours,
although exceptional weather leading to
widespread flooding may mean this is not
always possible.
We will pay you an amount equal to your
full sewerage charge for the year or pay
you £150, whichever is more (up to a
maximum of £1,000) for each flooding
incident that happens.
If the outside of your property is flooded
from one of our sewers, please contact
us on 0845 717 1100 immediately. You
should also advise your insurer, who will be
able to provide advice about cleaning up.
Wherever possible we will also help you to
clean up. We will pay you an amount equal
to 50% of your sewerage charge for the
year or pay you £75, whichever is more (up
to a maximum of £500) for each flooding
incident that happens.
If we do not make these payments within
20 working days of being notified of the
flooding event, we will pay you an additional
£20 (£50 if you are a business customer).
We will automatically make these payments,
whether or not you are covered by
insurance except in the following
circumstances:
• If the flooding is caused by you.
• The flooding is caused by extreme
weather conditions.*
•
•
If it is impractical for us to determine
that you are affected – in which case
you must make a claim within three
months of the flooding event.
If our investigations confirm that surface
water running over land was the cause of the flooding (directly or indirectly by inundating the network).
If your property is flooded both internally
and externally, only the payment for internal
flooding will apply.
We also operate an emergency fund which
is available in certain circumstances, to
help customers who have suffered sewer
flooding. Applications are considered on an
individual basis and you can find out more
by getting in touch with our Contact Centre
on 0845 717 1100.
*If your property is on a regulatory ‘DG5’
flooding register at the time of the flooding
event, we will make payments even if your
property has flooded in exceptional
weather conditions.
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Putting it right
We would like to hear from you if you have
a problem and are not happy with our work
or service. This gives us the opportunity to
put things right and make improvements so
other customers can benefit.
If you would like further details on how to
progress a complaint or would like a copy
of our Code of Practice on complaints,
Getting answers, visit our website,
www.nwl.co.uk or call us on
0845 717 1100.
Independent
review
We believe that an independent review is
an essential safeguard for our customers,
and constructive to improvements in our
service. On any occasion when we are
unable to resolve a complaint to your
satisfaction, you can refer it to the
Consumer Council for Water, an
independent organisation which acts as
a watchdog on your behalf. They will
investigate your complaint through their
own procedures and ask us why we
took the decisions we did, and inform
you accordingly.
The Consumer Council for Water can be
contacted at www.ccwater.org.uk.
Telephone: 01325 728 034
Ofwat
Ofwat is the economic regulator of the
water and sewerage industry in England
and Wales. It sets the price limits for
each company, but also protects and
monitors the standards of service you
receive. It also expects companies to
improve their services by becoming
more efficient.
Ofwat’s address and telephone number is:
Ofwat
City Centre Tower
7 Hill Street
Birmingham
B5 4UA
Tel: 0121 644 7500
Fax: 0121 644 7559
Email: [email protected]
Lo-call: 0845 708 9367
The Consumer Council for Water makes
sure consumers’ complaints are being
handled promptly and efficiently.
15/08/2013 16:24
Finding out more
This leaflet forms part of our Code of
Practice for domestic customers, which
provides customers with essential
information about our company. All of
our Codes of Practice are approved by
the Office of Water Services (Ofwat).
Other leaflets within our Codes of Practice
are available:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Our promise to you (our service level
and how we will compensate you if
things go wrong).
Managing debt (our Code of Practice
on debt).
Dealing with leaks (our Code of
Practice on leakage, guidance on pipe
ownership and our repair policy).
Getting answers (our Code of
Practice on complaints).
Extra Care - Can we help you?
Your water meter (a guide for
domestic customers).
Getting water to your home
To order any Code of
Practice leaflet in Braille,
large print, on a CD or
audio tape, please call
0845 717 1100.
We also offer information leaflets on
protecting the environment and water
efficiency in the home and garden, sewer
flooding and protecting the environment.
To order any of the above, please call
0845 717 1100.
15/08/2013 16:24
Northumbrian Water
Abbey Road
Pity Me
Co Durham
DH1 5FJ
www.nwl.co.uk
August 2013
www.nwl.co.uk
15/08/2013 16:24

Our sewerage services

Transcription

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