Conclusions and recommendations
1. There is insufficient co-ordination between
the bodies responsible for managing connections to the sewer network.
Public sewers are owned by 10 water and sewerage companies, but
local authorities, housing developers and property owners are
responsible for ensuring that connections to sewers do not overload
the existing system. At present, water companies are not required
by statute to be consultees in the planning process by which new
properties are connected to existing sewers.
2. Water companies should educate consumers
and businesses to help reduce sewer blockages.
Nearly half of all sewer flooding incidents are caused by blocked
sewers, often a result of households and businesses disposing
of inappropriate items (for example, nappies or cooking fat) down
their drains. Ofwat should work with water companies to investigate
the costs and benefits of a national campaign of education, or
a series of local campaigns run by each company.
3. Compensation arrangements are currently
inadequate. All consumers pay for an effective
sewer system through their water and sewerage bills. About 5,000-7,000
each year suffer from sewer flooding. At present, the victims
are guaranteed only a refund of their sewerage charges for the
year, and are left to bear the cost of cleaning, repair and redecoration
themselves. Consumers can cover these costs under household insurance,
but some have been unable to obtain insurance through poverty
or because of repeated flooding.
4. The Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs should extend statutory compensation arrangements.
The Guaranteed Standards Scheme requires water companies to compensate
customers for service failures by refunding part or all of the
water bill. This is a reasonable basis for service failures like
low water pressure, but it is inadequate for the cost and inconvenience
of sewer flooding. The Scheme should be more flexible, on the
principle that all consumers who benefit from effective drainage
should, through their sewerage charges, contribute to the costs
of those who endure sewer flooding.
5. In the meantime, Ofwat should encourage
companies to increase voluntary compensation payments. Water
companies can and do make voluntary compensation arrangements
above the guaranteed minimum. The system is currently ad hoc.
Ofwat should issue guidelines on when companies ought to pay compensation,
and how it should be calculated.
6. Ofwat should secure greater consistency
in recording the number of properties at-risk of sewer flooding.
Ofwat requires sewerage companies to record
properties that are at-risk of future sewer flooding incidents.
Companies adopt a range of approaches to identify these properties.
This inconsistency means that Ofwat cannot compare the performance
of companies in a meaningful way and homebuyers cannot be confident
about the risks facing the property they wish to purchase.
7. Ofwat should require companies to include
the same sewers in its regular five-year asset inventory assessments.
At present, companies report on a sample
basis. This approach means that it is rare for the same sewer
to be surveyed from one five-year assessment to the next. Companies
have therefore been unable to assess the deterioration of individual
sewers over time. Five-yearly samples of the same sewers would
provide a clearer understanding of the rate of deterioration.
8. Ofwat should develop measures which provide
an indication of the future condition and performance of sewer
networks. Ofwat uses a series of indicators
based on past performance. The indicators are inherently backward-looking,
and may give neither sufficient warning of imminent problems nor
an adequate guide to investment needs. Ofwat should supplement
existing measures with new ones which assess the risk of asset
failure.
9. Ofwat should require water companies to
prepare long-term sewerage resource plans. At
present, Ofwat requires water companies to prepare water resource
plans which consider the balance of supply and demand over a 25
year period. There is no parallel requirement for sewer systems.
In view of the potential pressures on sewer systems arising from
new housing developments in the South East, and climate change,
Ofwat should require sewer resource plans.
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