Flooding-prevention sewer checks begin

SEWERS in an area of Leeds are to be surveyed and cleaned out to reduce the risk of water flooding into homes through toilets and sinks.

A 2.3m scheme is set to begin soon in Burley that will see a large proportion of the public and private sewer network being inspected and repaired to help minimise the risk of flooding.

Over the last five years, a significant number of homes have been flooded by water “backing up” blocked pipes.

The work will look to identify these causes and carry out any necessary remedial work.

Sewers are frequently blocked by discarded used cooking fat and items such as baby wipes that should not be flushed away.

Yorkshire Water contract partners BarhaleWSP will begin initial surveying work on Monday – and residents have been warned that they may require access to private property.

This will include inserting CCTV cameras into the public sewers, taking photographs and checking the condition of private sewers.

Once the surveying is complete, any sewers that are found to have defects, whether they are public or private, will be repaired free of charge to residents.

If work needs to be carried out on private pipes, residents will be consulted and visited.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said: “We hope that this pro-active work will highlight any problems with the private and public sewers in the area so that we can find appropriate solutions to help prevent incidents of flooding.

“Although our work will play a huge part in finding solutions we still need residents in the area to look after their own sewer pipes as one of the problems causing blockages is people mistakenly disposing of items incorrectly down their sinks and toilets.”

Yorkshire Water has urged people not to put grease or fat down sinks or flush items such as make-up wipes down toilets – and posted guidance on their website at www.yorkshirewater.com/binit

They have also urged any residents worries about unexpected callers to telephone 0845 124 2424 to confirm the identities of those carrying out this work.