Drainage

Household drains and sewers 

Drains attached to houses meet up, in most cases, with drains from neighbouring houses and eventually attach to the main public sewer system. 

  • You are responsible for lateral drains within (under) your property boundary
  • Drains outside your property boundary, shared sewers and public sewers are the responsibility of Anglian Water who are the local water and sewerage company.

The big sewer switchover

From the 1 October 2011 Anglian Water become responsible for looking after many more sewers and pipes, this was due to a change in the law.

If you're connected to the public sewer system they are now responsible for the pipes that are outside your property. You are still responsible for pipes within your property boundary.

You can find out more about these changes from the Anglian Water website. 

diagram showing which houses are responsible for which pipes

Managing flood risk and drainage on developments 

The Environment Agency is the leading public body protecting and improving the environment in England and Wales. The Planning Practice Guidance website offers information on site-specific flood risk assessments for developments.

If your proposal requires a full flood risk assessment, you are strongly advised to discuss the scope and content of the flood risk assessment with the Environment Agency and our Planning Team before you start work on it.

Sustainable drainage systems

Peterborough Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) is a website to help inform, educate and promote the use of sustainable drainage on all developments.

Useful contacts

The council does not supply lists of contractors, so you are advised to consult a private drainage company. It is always advisable to obtain quotations in advance, as costs do vary between companies.

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