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Product category: Drainage Services
News Release from: Dyno-Rod | Subject: Private sewers and lateral drains
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial Team on 11 May 2006

Private sewers and lateral drains

With possible adoption by the water companies of private sewers and lateral drains, Dyno-Rod is already considering how it can support both homeowners and the utilities.

With changes in the pipeline regarding the ownership of private sewers and lateral drains and their possible adoption by the water companies, Dyno-Rod is already considering how it can support both homeowners and the utilities Under the proposals for change, it is likely that responsibility for the maintenance of private sewers and lateral drains will now become the responsibility of the utilities

The rationale behind this is that DEFRA wants to remove the confusion which has existed over the years between property owners and utility companies about who is responsible for their upkeep and repair.

For its part, Dyno-Rod understands and agrees with the need for changes to be made.

One of the critical issues is to ensure that the scale of the changes which may be made do result in benefits to all parties which outweigh any disruption that may be caused.

Dyno-Rod estimates that around 35% of all domestic drain blockages occur in private sewers and lateral drains.

Under the proposed changes, the cost and upkeep of these drains may well end up being absorbed by all households.

Much will depend upon the water companies and how they decide to cover the cost of their new responsibilities.

Another sector of the market looking closely at developments will be the insurance companies who currently deal with and#65533;150 million per annum in household claims relating to drains.

Although at this late stage it is inconceivable that there will be a u-turn on the proposal for change, at present there still are a number of propositions on the table about how the responsibility for private sewers and lateral drains will be passed from the householder to the water utility company.

The propositions generally cover different timescales, phased handover periods as well as possible pilot schemes in certain parts of the country.

Indeed, Dyno-Rod supports the OFWAT position, believing that a local pilot scheme is essential, and indeed logical, in order to fully evaluate all of the cost and logistical issues in advance of full implementation.

The utilities are already examining how they can best execute their new responsibilities and at this stage do not know what state the drain they inherit will be in.

Will they implement preventative maintenance programmes for drains? Will they respond to problems on and ad-hoc or emergency basis? How will the work carried out be funded? Who will carry out the work?.

This final question, Dyno-Rod believes, is key.

The utilities and their contractors do not traditionally have experience dealing directly with householders confronted with an emergency repair such as a drain blockage and its possible that some may generally not possess the most appropriate resources that small bore drainage requires.

As the UK's most well-established drain maintenance specialist Dyno-Rod is one company that does have all the necessary attributes.

It has been providing emergency drain cleaning, surveying and repair services to domestic properties for the last 40+ years.

The company knows about domestic drains and dealing directly with householders.

The familiar Dyno-Glo red vans are recognised nationwide even by homeowners who have never had any need to call upon their services.

Just as important to the utility companies and its contractors is the fact that there is also a major commercial and industrial side to Dyno-Rod's business.

In fact some 60% of the company's business is in non-domestic work and much of this is so more than clearing blockages.

Indeed Dyno-Rod has developed and introduced a suite of drain rehabilitation techniques which are particularly well-suited to water industry requirements.

CIPP lining is a core expertise, which includes Brawolilner - Dyno-Rod is the largest installer of the Brawoliner product in the UK.

However, its new product in2 underlines its particular expertise in small bore repair and replacement.

This is a no-dig repair method that involves the installation of factory manufactured plastic pipe to replace existing clay or pitch fibre drains.

Furthermore, since it acquisition by British Gas, the company has made major strides forward in customer service, call handling, engineer training, operations and systems.

All these factors are now coming together at a time when the picture of responsibility for domestic drains is changed as it has never changed in the last 100 years.

These changes are to be welcomed as they will benefit all parties and do away with so many of the anomalies and misunderstandings of the past.

However, over the next 5-10 years, from the initial pilot scheme to full implementation, there will be many challenges.

Dyno-Rod is better placed than any other company to assist utilities and householders alike in meeting these challenges successfully.

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