Sewer Repairs in Chesterfield

Private Drain or Shared Sewer — What Is the Difference?

A private drain serves a single property and runs from the building to the point it connects with a shared or public sewer. You own it and are responsible for it.

A shared or public sewer carries flow from more than one property. Since October 2011, Severn Trent adopted responsibility for the vast majority of private shared sewers in their area — which includes Chesterfield. That means Severn Trent are responsible for maintaining and repairing those pipes, not the individual homeowners whose properties connect to them.

The boundary matters. We will not carry out excavation on a pipe that Severn Trent should be repairing at their cost. After a CCTV survey, we can tell you clearly which side of the responsibility line the fault falls on.

When to Call Us Immediately

Surfacing sewage — whether in a garden, a yard, or a shared access path — is a public health issue. It needs to be dealt with the same day. Common signs that warrant an urgent call:

• Sewage or grey water pooling on the surface
• Strong foul odour from manholes or ground level
• Multiple fixtures backing up simultaneously (toilet, bath, sink)
• A manhole cover that is lifting or overflowing during rainfall
• Sudden, unexplained wet patches on a lawn near a known drain run

No-Dig Sewer Repair

Where a sewer pipe is cracked, has displaced joints, or is suffering root ingress but still broadly holds its cross-section, we can repair it without opening the ground. A resin-impregnated felt liner is inserted through an existing manhole or chamber, positioned over the damaged section, inflated against the pipe wall, and cured into a hard jointless pipe-within-a-pipe.

This is particularly effective in Chesterfield's Victorian terraces, where the shared back-lane sewers running behind rows of properties in Brampton, Hasland, and Newbold are often in original clay. Digging out a back-lane sewer means disrupting a shared access that multiple households depend on. Relining avoids that entirely.

Limit: If a sewer pipe has fully collapsed — no remaining bore — relining is not an option. Excavation is required, and where a public sewer is involved, we will direct you to Severn Trent.

Excavation and Pipe Replacement

Where no-dig repair is not viable, we carry out targeted excavation: CCTV confirms the exact location and extent of the failure, we open only what is necessary, replace the failed section with modern uPVC pipe, backfill in compacted layers, and reinstate the surface. A post-repair camera pass confirms the repair before we leave.

In the Staveley area and the former pit villages to the north-east of Chesterfield, ground movement associated with historic mine workings is a known factor in sewer and drain failures. Where that is relevant, we discuss it with you — because the same pipe may fail again if the underlying ground movement is not accounted for in the repair specification.

Pricing

No call-out charge. No-dig relining is quoted per metre after survey; excavation repairs are priced on scope from the CCTV findings. You receive a written fixed quote before work begins. The survey cost is credited against the repair if you proceed.

Related Services

• Drain Relining in Chesterfield — the no-dig option for private drains and shared sewers still holding shape
• Collapsed Drain Repair in Chesterfield — when excavation is the only route
• Blocked Sewer in Chesterfield — if the problem is a blockage rather than a structural failure