Flooding - Drainage

Contact Information:

Emergency contact during office hours: 01628 683804 (8am-6pm Mon-Fri)
Out of Hours Emergency number: 01753 853517

Drainage

A very important feature of road construction is drainage. New roads include designed drainage systems intended to remove water efficiently from the surface of the highway to provide a safe passage for all vehicles and pedestrians.
Older roads may have less sophisticated drainage, but all have features designed to take the water away from the road surface. It is necessary to clean and maintain these drainage systems so that they can work properly.

Problems can still occur even when drainage systems are clean and well maintained. Flooded and waterlogged roads result when the amount of water arriving on the road is greater than the capacity of the drainage facilities that take it away. Exceptional rainfall, a road being in a low lying area, changes in 'run off' from adjacent fields and rivers overflowing are some situations that can lead to the road flooding or being waterlogged can also cause problems.

Material carried into the drains by floods can also lead to them becoming blocked. Drainage grills and gratings (eg. on gullies) can become blocked very quickly when materials like mud are deposited on the road or when there is a heavy fall of leaves. If a flooded road is caused by a ruptured water main the water company will be responsible for repairing the damage.

Water is directed to drains by the road profile. Puddles (ponding) tend to occur if there is a depression in the road. This can be rectified where necessary by local patching of the road surface.

The following notes give guidance on who to contact for various types of flooding:

• Flooding from Public Sewers

  The water company own and manage the network of public foul and surface water sewers. The majority of public sewers are located in highways and the Council has a copy of the sewer maps, which can be viewed at the Council Offices. To report an overflowing public sewer, you should call Thames Water Utilities Customer Services on 0845 9200800 (The link is to a useful contacts page for Thames Water in these circumstances)

• Flooding from Private Sewers or Drains

  If your private drains or sewers are overflowing, you will need a drainage contractor to deal with any blockage. See "Yellow Pages" under "Drain and Pipe Cleaning". If you are uncertain if any blockage is in the public or private sewers, the water company should be able to determine this, once on site, then recharge you the cost of any work on the private sewers.

• Flooding from the Public Highway

  For flooding from the public highway or reporting blocked road gullies or gratings, please call Streetcare on 01628 796803 or use the Fix it online form.

• Flooding from a Burst Water Main

  The local water supply company are South East Water, Thames Water and Three Valleys Water. The water companies are responsible for their supply up to and including the water stopcock. By clicking on the links this will take you to their individual home pages.

• Flooding from a Water Service Pipe or Internal Pipework

  This is the responsibility of the homeowner or landlord and would need the attention of a plumber (see "Yellow Pages" or similar directories).

• Flooding from a Main River

  The main rivers are the responsibility of the Environment Agency, on 0845 933 3111. In addition, the Agency provide a "Floodline", which is a 24 hour advice and information service for floods and flood warning on 0845 988 1188.

• Flooding from Watercourses, other than Main Rivers

  Watercourses, other than main rivers, are the responsibility of riparian owners. You are a riparian owner if your property or land is on, or very near, a watercourse. Riparian owners have a duty to keep the watercourse clear of any obstruction to flow and the Council can serve legal notices on riparian owners to deal with obstructions. Certain "strategic" watercourses, that are known to pose a high risk of property flooding if they become blocked, are checked and maintained by the Council's contractor on a regular basis.

• Provision of Sandbags to Protect against Flooding

  The Council makes sandbags available to residents of the district, during emergency situations, to enable them to protect their homes from flooding. However, residents who are aware that their homes are at a high risk of flooding, e.g. as a result of the close proximity of a watercourse, are recommended to obtain sandbags from a builders' merchant to enable early preparation, as at times of flooding the Council's contractor may not be able to reach all properties before flooding occurs. Please see our Sandbags webpage for further information regarding the provision of sandbags.

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