Blocked Drains & Drain Unblocking In Southwell

In Southwell the public sewers belong to Severn Trent Water. If the blockage is in a pipe you share with a neighbour, or beyond your boundary, it's normally the water company's to clear — call Severn Trent on 0800 783 4444. If it's in a drain that serves only your property, it's yours, and that's where we come in. Our engineer finds the blockage first and tells you whose it is before any work starts.

Water pooling around a road gully outside? Road drains are Nottinghamshire County Council's responsibility — report it to the council. We clear private gullies, channels and manholes anywhere in Southwell town centre, Easthorpe, Westhorpe, Brinkley and the rest of NG25.

Southwell is where we're based, so a blocked drain in the town is usually the shortest trip of our day. It's also a town that pays attention to its drains. The Southwell Flood Forum was launched on 6 August 2013, a fortnight after that summer's flood, and one of its standing tips for residents is plain: if you spot a blocked drain, ditch or dyke, report it, and don't assume someone else already has.

Working out who to report it to is the hard part, because a lot of rainwater in Southwell runs into watercourses rather than sewers. The Forum's watercourse team lists who manages each stretch of the Potwell Dyke. The Trent Valley Internal Drainage Board looks after Upton Road to the Newark Road bridge, the Town Council a length leading up to the War Memorial park, Nottinghamshire County Council the Nottingham Road section and the Springfield and Brackenhurst dumbles, and private riparian owners much of the rest. After Storm Babet the county council cleared ditches near Nottingham Road and the Minster School to reduce the flood risk there.

That split matters when an outside drain backs up. If silt or leaves are choking the pipe between your house and the ditch, it's your drain and we can clear it. If the outfall itself is buried or under water, the owner of that stretch needs to deal with it. Toilets, sinks and showers are different: they run to Severn Trent's sewers, and a blockage there is nearly always wipes, fat or roots. We rod or jet the pipe and can follow up with a camera. Drain unblocking starts from £120 + VAT.