It is coming up to six months since private sewers and lateral drains were transferred to water company control on 1 October 2011. Two further parts of the transfer process have yet to take place.
First, there is a secondary transfer of gravity sewers and laterals that were not communicating with a public sewer on 1 July 2011. These include those that will be built before the commencement of Section 42 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2011, which will make the adoption of new sewers and lateral drains connecting to the public sewer system mandatory.
Second, and more significantly, is the transfer of pumping stations on sewers and lateral drains before 1 October 2016. Pumping stations were not included in the initial bulk transfer because of the need to actively manage these assets rather than respond to failures.
The biggest uncertainty is identifying how many pumping stations will transfer. Estimates range from 15,000 to 60,000. If companies are to make appropriate provision for operating costs and any necessary upgrading in their submissions for the next price review, there is little time available to identify the pumping stations that will transfer and to inspect sufficient of them to make a robust estimate of the likely costs that will be involved. WRc has been exploring with a number of companies the feasibility of developing methods to identify pumping station locations.
Private pumping stations have become much more common on new developments in recent years. Partly this is because the sites now available for new development are more difficult to drain. However, they have sometimes been seen as a solution in cases where a gravity connection was feasible but would require works on third-party land. It is expected that a high proportion of private pumping stations will therefore be in newer developments.
Once located, pumping stations must be inspected to check whether they comply with health and safety legislation, in particular with regard to electrical safety, and to establish whether any urgent works need to be carried out prior to transfer.
Maintenance access arrangements also need to be considered, because access is often needed at short notice and some private pumping stations are in enclosed back gardens. Most of the pumping stations that will transfer are expected to be significantly smaller than companies’ existing sewer network pumping stations. This could require new ways of working and different equipment, for example smaller tankers.
Even after transfer there may be other works required to ensure the pumping stations can be cost effectively managed. Full upgrading to Sewers for Adoption Standards would not be practicable or economic, however some upgrading is likely to be justified on a case-by case basis.
Relatively few private pumping stations have telemetry. The most common form of alarm is a beacon light on the kiosk or panel. Companies will have to decide whether to rely on the customer to call them if the alarm goes off, or to fit some sort of telemetry to the control panel. The stand-by capacity at the pumping station will also need to be reviewed, including the provision of stand-by pumps and flow storage.
The regulations envisage a phased transfer. If you own a private pumping station you will want the company to adopt it as soon as possible. However, the simple task of inspection, carrying out the urgent works and transfer of so many pumping stations is no mean feat. It is inevitable that it will take some time to transfer these assets. There is also likely to be a need for a continuing programme of less urgent upgrading work beyond the last date for transfer in 2016. For sewage pumping station specialists, the transfer still has a long time to run.
Nick Orman is a principal consultant at WRc
This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 9 March 2012.
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