Sewerage and drainage

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Sewerage systems deal with the collection, drainage, treatment and disposal of sewage, surface water and effluent. The legal framework governing sewers and drains covers the regulation of sewerage undertakers and sewerage systems, including the laying, maintenance, adoption and protection of sewers and drains, connections to sewerage systems, storm overflows, sewage treatment works and sustainable drainage systems (SuDS). It also includes the rights and responsibilities of developers, landowners and undertakers, together with issues relating to highway drains and culverts, environmental permitting, flooding and pollution control.

Regulation of the sewerage system

The regulatory requirements for sewage disposal are primarily contained in the Urban Waste Water Treatment (England and Wales) Regulations 1994, SI 1994/2841, which implemented the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 91/271/EEC.

The general duty to provide a sewerage system is found in section 94 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (WIA 1991). This general duty is supplemented by 1994 Regulations, SI 1994/2841, reg 4 which requires that ‘collecting systems’ are provided by specified dates and that urban wastewater entering collecting systems is subject to treatment provided in accordance with regulation 5.

The 1994 Regulations

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