How do sewers and drains work together?
The water system in your home or commercial premises consists of numerous pipes and drains, some delivering fresh water to the property whilst others remove waste. Every pipe plays a vital role and a blocked or damaged pipe can have significant knock on effects and create additional cost and maintenance requirements.
What is a drain?
The pipes in your property that remove water from the property, such as those situated under your sink or at the rear of your toilet lead into the property’s drainage system. This system consists of a number of sturdy pipes that transfer waste water into the local sewers.
What is a sewer?
A sewer is an expansive series of underground pipework that collects waste from the drains of a number of properties in the vicinity and is managed by the local water company. Each sewer joins into a larger network of sewers to remove waste water to a sewage treatment plant where it is cleaned and filtered in order to be returned to rivers.
Managing damaged drains or sewers
When a drain pipe becomes damaged, it can crack and allow waste water to escape, potentially releasing harmful residues and creating further property damage. Depending on the severity of the damage, a company such as Wilkinson Environmental may be able to repair the damage rather than replacing the pipework.
A technique known as sewer pipe lining in Wolverhampton and elsewhere is proving very effective for repairing damaged drains. It is quicker to conduct a repair using this technique than it would be to excavate to reach the damaged section of drain, and with this shortened timescale, cost efficiencies are often realised as well.
Summary
Waste water generated from properties, both domestic and commercial, is removed into the sewers via the property’s drains. Issues with the drains are the responsibility of the property owner to resolve, whilst sewage issues must be handled by the local water company. In some cases, excavation will be required in order to replace damaged pipework, but where the damage is less severe, sewer pipe lining is a cheaper and less invasive option.
