Page 1 of 1

Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 4:23 pm
by LowMiller
Hi....
I have a large land water drain going under my lawn which takes water collected from fields above my house to a point in my garden where it re-emerges and carries on to a river. I have two questions about it.
No 1: Since it is not strictly conveying water that has come from my property, would any one else have responsibility over it, say perhaps the river authority or the local council?
No 2: During severe rain last autumn, a big section of my lawn was floating over a foot high when i went out to see it during the night, which turned out to be a blockage in this drain causing mass leakage through previously repaired sections. The drain is nominally 2 foot in diameter, made of what looks like that old red ceramic type of pipe, and has a wall thickness of about 1 and a half inches, and is in 3 fopot long sections which have male and female ends. The repairs done in the past involved laying flat slabs over broken sections before burial, not good!! I wondered if there was any way the layman could repair these type of pipes, and if so, where i might buy them? I have dug down to the broken sections and cleared the blockage, say 3 foot down, and up to 5 sections need replacing. The water flows ok now but i have two big bear pits in the lawn, which i would like to fill up again.

Any help would be appreciated.

Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 4:55 pm
by TheRobster
Ownership of pipes can be a tricky business...normally if the pipe runs through your land then it's your responsibility. However, if the flooding is being caused by a part of the pipe that is on someone else's land, or they have changed how it operates (e.g. they are suddenly putting a lot more water into it than it was designed for) then this is (usually) illegal and you can take them to court (assuming you have to) for flooding your land.

If an organisation owns the pipe then it is most likely your local water utility or the local council (e.g. drainage board, if they have one). A field drain is likely to be "owned" by whoever has responsibility for the field.

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 2:40 pm
by LowMiller
Unfortunately this is what i expected. Looks like i am going to have to get the spade aout again.
Thanks for the reply though..