After the Flush

Apologies in advance for the unsavoury subject of today's image.  It comes of being busy and weary; too busy to go out capturing other images until I became to weary to bother finding an E.B.

Up until 2011, one of my team's duties was dealing with blocked drains and sewers.  Not necessarily unblocking them, but making sure someone did so that the public's health was protected.  In 2011 the law changed and the vast majority of private sewers became the responsibility of the water companies.  Previously they were the responsibility of the households whose waste was conveyed through the pipes.  This is a great deal for home owners.  Where previously they would have had to bear the cost of unblocking sewers, now all they have to do is call the company and they send someone out to carry out the work.

Today I visited a brand new estate where the developer has refused to meet the water company's requirements for adoption of the sewers.  The developer is therefore seeking to get the current system accepted by the council as part of the planning permission.  This includes this 15 foot deep, 6 ft diameter tank in the front garden of one of the houses on the estate.  Two pumps lie submerged at the bottom of these rails and they periodically transfer the accumulated waste from the estate into the public sewer.  It smells!  They've promised everything will be OK, despite the pumps having already broken down in the last couple of years and separate heavy rain periods caused surcharging of the sewers, with this waste washed out over pavements and roads.

I've probably said as much as I can at the moment.  Why the developer won't meet the requirements of the water company, they haven't said.  It isn't for me to suggest that they may be putting profit before the benefit of the residents!