Sewer flooding

If you have experienced a sewer flood, find out who to contact, how to stay safe, and what we will do to help.

Sewer flooding can cause damage to your property and pose a risk to your health, so it’s important you act quickly.

We know how stressful it can be, so we will our best to help. We aim to respond to internal floods within two hours and external floods within four hours – but we will try to arrive as soon as possible!

You should also get in touch your household insurance company right away. Your policy should cover any loss or damage caused by a sewer flood.

Health and safety advice

When dealing with sewage, stay safe by:

• avoiding contact with it and covering any cuts or grazes
• keeping children and pets away from the contaminated area
• washing your hands if you come into contact with it
• opening windows and doors to ventilate your property.

If your gas meter or any appliances have been submerged, you should contact your gas supplier before using or lighting any appliances.

If your electricity meter, fuse box or any appliances or sockets have been submerged, you should contact your electricity supplier before using any appliances.

If you grow fruit and vegetables in your garden and they have been affected by the flood, you should throw them away and avoid planting anymore in the affected area for at least six months.

Our free clean-up service

Where possible, we will also provide a free clean-up service. We aim to arrive within 12 hours for internal floods and 24 hours for external floods.

Internal clean-ups

We will help with removing litter, as well as disinfecting and drying the affected area.

We usually clean up when we first respond, but during busy periods we may need to complete it the following day.

You should check with your insurance company before removing any furniture. They may want a loss adjuster to examine the affected items.

External clean-ups

We will help to clean areas affected by sewage debris and disinfect hard surfaces, such as paths, patios and drives.

We don’t normally disinfect lawns and borders as this can kill plants, and we only replace turf, gravel or other garden surfaces when necessary.

You should avoid using affected areas of lawn, borders or gravel for long enough to allow the sewage to decay naturally – this takes around a month.

Other types of flooding

River floods

If rising water levels in a nearby river have caused a flood, please contact the Environment Agency.

Highway floods

If the flooding is coming from a highway drain, please contact National Highways.

Road floods

If a blocked roadside gully has stopped rainwater from draining, please contact your local council.

Groundwater flooding

If water rising up through the ground (groundwater) has caused flooding, please contact your local council.