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Sewers and drains explained

There are an awful lot of pipes, drains and sewers hidden away from view inside homes and under the ground – so it’s worth bearing in mind that responsibility for their upkeep is in the hands of different organisations and people – including you!

It's important to know who's responsible for which parts.

Diagram of typical sewer pipe responsibility:
Typical sewer pipe responsibility

For more detailed information, please see our Simple Guide to Water Pipes, Drains and Sewers by clicking the button below (PDF 1,246 KB opens in a new window).

View PDF

What you're responsible for:

The pipes, gutters, gullies and drains in and around your home, including the drains from your property up to your boundary unless shared. If it is a shared sewer where several neighbouring properties' drains meet together before they join the public sewer, in this case this is our responsibility to maintain (see below).

If you're unsure of your responsibilities, please don't worry - give us a call on 0345 672 3723, we'll be happy to help.

What United Utilities is responsible for:

The big public sewers that take sewage and rainwater run-off to our wastewater treatment works (as well as the pipes from the boundary of your property up to where they connect into the public sewer).

Shared sewers where several properties' drains meet together before they join the public sewer can also be our responsibility to maintain - so if you suspect that this is blocked, please Contact us.

What your local authority is responsible for:

Highway gullies, also known as road gullies; these are small grate-covered openings at the edge of roads, and are used to drain surface water from the highway. If you’re worried about blockages or smells from these please call your council.

Important Notice

Cold Weather

Due to the freezing weather conditions across the region a number of our customers are experiencing no water or reduced pressure, caused by frozen pipes in their home. There are a few things you can do to check if you have frozen pipes. If you are unable to complete these checks please reach out to your family, friends or neighbours to see if they can help:

  1. If there are no local issues check with your neighbours. If they have water, you may have a frozen pipe in your property.
  2. Here’s what to do. Turn off your stop tap by turning it clockwise, it’s usually found under your kitchen sink, but can be in your garage or cellar.
  3. Once you’ve turned your stop tap off, turn on your cold tap in the kitchen
  4. If you have no water, this could be due to a frozen pipe somewhere in your home. This may be the pipe which comes into your home near to where your stop tap is located.
  5. Carefully thaw the pipe using a warm towel, or if safe to do so a hairdryer in short bursts, ensuring you keep well away from water. If you can get water from a neighbour you could try a hot water bottle too. This could take a while, depending on how frozen and big your pipes are.
  6. Switch your stop tap back on to see if the water is running.

You can find more information at www.unitedutilities.com/frozenpipes.

If you have followed all of the advice provided and still want to talk to us, please give us a call. As we are experiencing really high call volumes at the moment, please bear with us as wait times will be longer than usual. 

Due to the freezing weather conditions across the region a number of our customers are experiencing no water or reduced pressure, caused by frozen pipes in their home. For more help and advice if you have a frozen pipe head to www.unitedutilities.com/frozenpipes.

Cold Weather

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