I have received a search reporting that the property is connected for a service but is not billed for the service. Why is this?

There are occasions when there are reliable records held by Severn Trent Water other than the billing records that indicate to us that a property will be connected for a service despite the fact that the property may not currently be being billed for that service. On these occasions we will answer the Search as connected for services even though  charges may not currently be being raised. Alternative records used could be such things as reports from Severn Trent Water inspectors, previous billing history, developer information and completed connection applications and approvals.

How do you determine if a residential property drains to the public sewer system? Do you inspect properties?

In our search report we report on the connection status of a residential property to the water and sewerage systems based on checking the current billing records held by the responsible water or sewerage company for that property. This is generally the method used to determine the connection status for Residential CON29DW searches as it is considered reasonable to assume that if a property is billed for a service then it can be considered likely to be connected for that service.

If South Staffs Water is responsible for billing for water and sewerage services in my area why don’t their plans show their public sewers?

South Staffs Water is a water only company, responsible solely for providing drinking water to their customers. They have no responsibility for providing sewerage services.  Severn Trent Water is the responsible sewerage undertaker in this area. As such, South Staffs Water plans contain only their water assets and public mains water pipes and Severn Trent Water provide separate plans showing the public sewers in the area. However, because South Staffs is required to bill the property for water services they also bill for sewerage services on behalf of Severn Trent Water.

Q2.7 of my search confirms that Severn Trent has approved or been consulted about plans to build over or close to a public sewer. Can you supply more information relating to this contact?

This question considers whether Severn Trent Water’s build-over team has received any contact regarding any proposed or actual building work at the property since 2004 regardless of whether the building work went ahead or not, or whether build-over approval was or was not required. Contact could have been made by the home-owner at the time, a developer or from the local council planning department.

The surface water sewer serving my property has been subject to a S104 sewer adoption agreement for several years. Can you explain the delay?

All section 104 agreements take a few years to see through to completion. However, in recent years, there’s been a situation where the foul sewers are adopted, but the surface water aren’t. This is because on some developments, the foul assets transferred into the public ownership as part of the 2011 sewer transfer, but the related surface water assets remained under a S104 agreement. This is usually the case where surface water discharges into a watercourse and not the public network, meaning they were not eligible for automatic transfer in 2011.
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