0800 772 33 99 — ring us and we will tell you straight away when we can get to you.
While you are waiting, the things below genuinely help, and one of them may mean you do not need us at all.
Stop putting water into the system
If a manhole is surcharging or a toilet is backing up, stop running water in the property. No washing machine, no dishwasher, no showers, and avoid flushing.
Everything you send down the drain now has nowhere to go and will come back up at the lowest point — usually a downstairs toilet, a shower tray or a gully outside. This is the single most useful thing you can do, and it costs nothing.
Keep people and pets away from standing water
Foul water carries bacteria. Keep children and animals off it, keep it out of the house where you can, and wash your hands thoroughly if you have been near it. Do not try to clear a foul blockage by hand.
Work out whether it is even yours
Since the 2011 private sewer transfer, Severn Trent owns most shared drainage and everything beyond your property boundary. If your drainage is shared with neighbours, or the problem is past your boundary, it is very likely Severn Trent’s to clear at no cost to you.
Two useful signs:
- Are your neighbours affected too? If several properties on the same run are backing up, the blockage is almost certainly on the shared section — ring Severn Trent first.
- Is it only your property? Then it is more likely to be on your own length of pipe.
If you are not sure, ring us anyway. If we get there and find it is Severn Trent’s, we will tell you that rather than invoice you for it.
What counts as urgent
Urgent — sewage inside the property, a manhole overflowing near a door or a drinking water supply, or a blockage affecting a business that cannot trade.
Serious but not urgent — a gully overflowing onto a drive or garden, a slow toilet, a drain that gurgles. These want dealing with, but the property is not being damaged while you wait.
Not an emergency, but tell us — a drain that has blocked three times this year. That is a structural fault and it wants a camera, not another clearance. CCTV drain surveys.
What we will ask you
It speeds things up considerably if you have these ready:
- What is happening, and where — inside, outside, which fixture.
- Whether any manholes are surcharging, and where they are.
- Whether the drainage is shared with neighbours.
- Whether it has happened before, and how often.
- Access — locked gates, parking, dogs.
What it will cost
We will give you a price on the phone before we come out, so there are no surprises when we arrive.
Common questions
Should I pour drain cleaner down it? No. It will not shift a blockage further down the run, and it means whoever clears it is working in caustic water.
Can I lift the manhole cover myself? If it lifts easily and you can do it safely, it is genuinely useful — knowing which chambers are surcharging tells us where the blockage is. Do not force a seized cover, and do not leave an open chamber unattended.
The toilet is backing up but the sinks are fine — what does that mean? Usually a blockage on the soil pipe rather than the main run. Often quicker to clear.
Everything is backing up at once. That points to the main run or the shared section. Stop using water, and check whether the neighbours have the same problem.
Related: Blocked drains · High-pressure drain jetting · CCTV drain surveys
Talk to the person who will do the work.
Surveys across the West Midlands, south Staffordshire, east Shropshire and north Worcestershire. Unblocking closer to home.