Effective drainage is essential to protecting homes, businesses, and infrastructure from flooding. We work to manage local flood risks by maintaining drainage systems, regulating development, and supporting sustainable drainage solutions.
This section explains what you can do to manage drainage and how development at your property may affect flood risk. It also provides useful guidance if you are planning to submit a planning application, large or small.
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 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.
You can find out more on the sewer pipe responsibility page on the Anglian Water website.
Report issues with public drains, gullies and manholes
To report a missing or damaged public drain, gully or manhole cover, or a blockage, please follow the instructions on our drains, gullies and manholes page.
To report flooding from a drain or gully on a public highway, please follow the instructions on our report a flood page.
Resurfacing driveways and front gardens
Visit our resurfacing driveways and front gardens page to find out:
- Why resurfacing driveways and gardens is a problem for flooding, drainage and the environment
- If you need planning permission to resurface your driveway or front garden
- Which materials to use to create a permeable surface to allow rainwater to infiltrate the ground
- How to report concerns of non-compliance
Flood risk management for new developments
All new developments must adopt a proactive and integrated approach to flood risk management. Even if an area is at low risk of fluvial or tidal flooding, it does not account for intense rain periods which can overwhelm ground absorption and capacity of drains.
Every development proposal must demonstrate that it has considered the impacts of surface water and flooding.
Visit our flood risk management for new developments page to view information on the planning process, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) and design guides.
