Adoption of private sewers by Welsh Water
Construction of private sewers and lateral drains continued on several development sites beyond 1 July 2011. These sewers did not automatically transfer to Welsh Water on 1 October 2011 as part of the private sewer transfer.
Supplementary Transfer
New construction standards, known as the Welsh Ministers’ Standards, were introduced across the Welsh Water operating area by the Welsh Government on 1 October 2012. These standards aim to ensure all new sewers and lateral drains are built to a suitable standard and ‘adopted’ by Welsh Water, who will then maintain and repair them.
The Supplementary Transfer is necessary to transfer sewers and lateral drains, constructed between 1 July 2011 and the introduction of the new construction standards on 1 October 2012, from developers and property owners to Welsh Water.
On 1 October 2012 the Welsh Government published the Scheme for the adoption of these sewers detailing the transfer. Further details can be found on the Welsh Government website.
We are writing to any properties, which have been connected to our sewers between July 2011 and October 2012, to notify them of the transfer which will take place on 1 April 2013. If your property was connected between these dates you do not need to do anything but we recommend you read the letter and leaflet below
Pumping Station Transfer
On 1st October 2016, we took responsibility for most private pumping stations in our area. This change takes responsibility away from our customers and will lead to more effective management of the wastewater network.
Pumping Stations are built when the drainage system to a house or housing development is lower than the public sewer to which it has to connect. The waste water then has to be “lifted” by a pump and a pressurised pipe known as a rising main, into the public sewer.
The pump is located in a buried chamber called a wet well, which collects the waste water from the drainage system. You will normally only see the steel access covers for the wet well and a kiosk, usually green or grey, which contains the electrical control equipment for the pumps.
It could be that a developer did not ask us to adopt the pumping station, or went out of business before completing the process, or ownership of the pumping station may have transferred from a developer to local residents. There will also be some pumping stations that Welsh Water has refused to adopt because they are not up to the required standard to become part of our network.
In Welsh Water's operating area we estimate that we may have 800 private pumping stations.
Taking over responsibility for these will mean a dramatic increase in our workload, but we support this transfer, as we believe that it is good for our customers and will:
- Remove the unfair burden of responsibility from customers currently served by these pumping stations.
- Provide much greater clarity on ownership and responsibilities.
- Ensure that the cost of maintenance and repairs will be distributed more fairly.
Those that have been located and considered eligible have now been transferred to our network.
What is a Private Pumping Station?
A private pumping station is a pumping station that is not owned and operated by Welsh Water. It could be that a developer did not ask us to adopt the pumping station, or went out of business before completing the process, or ownership of the pumping station many have transferred from a developer to local residents. There will also be some pumping stations that Welsh Water has refused to adopt because they are not up to the required standard to become part of our network.
Pumping stations are usually small, kiosk buildings, and these are typical examples:
Due to changes in the law, on 1st October 2016, we took responsibility for most private pumping stations in our area, so our customers don’t have to worry about them.
We are now continuing to locate private pumping stations, and this is where we need your help. If you know of or are responsible for a private pumping station that:
- Serves more than one house, or
- Serves just one house, but is located outside the boundary of that property
Please let us know about it – you can register your pumping station by contacting 0800 085 3968.
You will then be contacted to arrange an eligibility inspection.
What is Private Pumping Station Transfer?
These are the processes that we follow to transfer private pumping stations to Welsh Water ownership:-
