Will Wessex Water unblock my drain?
The short answer: Wessex Water clears blockages in its own pipes free: the public sewer, most drains shared with neighbours, and your own pipe once it leaves your property. If the blockage sits in a pipe that serves only your home, inside your boundary, it's yours to pay for. Asking the neighbours and lifting a manhole usually tells you which.
Most Wessex Water blocked drain calls come down to one question: will they come out, or is it your bill? Wessex Water is the sewerage company for most of Dorset, including Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch. It owns the sewers, and since 2011 most of the pipes that join homes to them. This guide shows when it clears a blockage for free, when the cost is yours, how to tell the difference in a couple of minutes, and how to report it.
When Wessex Water clears a blocked drain for free
Wessex Water says it clears blockages on its network for free. According to its sewer pipe responsibility page, that network covers:
- the public sewers beyond your boundary, usually under roads and pavements
- most shared pipes, meaning pipes that connect two or more properties, even where they run through back gardens
- your lateral drain, the stretch of your own pipe that lies outside your boundary on its way to the sewer
The shared pipes and lateral drains became Wessex Water's on 1 October 2011, when private sewers connected to the public network before July 2011 were transferred to water companies by law. Our guide on who is responsible for blocked drains explains that change and its exceptions.
One catch: many pipes that transferred in 2011 aren't drawn on the sewer records. A pipe missing from the map isn't proof that it's private.
When a blocked drain is your bill
Wessex Water says you're usually responsible for:
- the pipes serving your home up to your boundary, or up to where they join shared pipework, whichever is closest
- every pipe and fitting inside your home
- septic tanks, soakaways and private treatment works
- drainage that doesn't connect to the public sewer, such as many rainwater systems
- gutters and vent stacks
For a blockage on your own pipework, Wessex Water points you to DrainSafe, an approved contractor scheme run by the National Association of Drainage Contractors, to find a private firm. If you rent, tell your landlord, who is normally responsible for the drains. If your home is on an estate connected to the sewer after July 2011, the shared pipes may still be private until they're formally adopted.
How to tell whose blockage it is in a couple of minutes
- Notice what's backing up
A single slow sink or bath, with everything else fine, points to the trap or waste pipe right next to it. Toilets, sinks and the bath all struggling points to the underground drain.
- Compare upstairs with downstairs
Wessex Water's own test: if the downstairs toilet and sink drain normally but upstairs fittings don't, the blockage is most likely on your pipework.
- Knock next door
Its other test: if neighbours have a similar problem, the blockage is most likely on the public sewer.
- Find your manhole covers
Most homes have one or more in the drive, front path or back garden, between the house and the road.
- Look in the one nearest your boundary
Only lift covers on your own land, wear gloves, and never lean in. If this chamber is full, the blockage is most likely further down, past your boundary or on a shared pipe. If it's empty but a chamber nearer the house is full, the blockage sits between the two.
- Count the pipes coming in
A pipe entering from a neighbour's side means the chamber is on a shared run, which is Wessex Water's.
- Still not sure?
Wessex Water asks you to contact it if you can't locate a blockage, and says it will do its best to help.
| What you find | Most likely owner | Who to contact |
|---|---|---|
| Neighbours have the same problem | Wessex Water (public sewer) | Wessex Water |
| The chamber nearest your boundary is full | Wessex Water (lateral drain or sewer) | Wessex Water |
| A chamber with a pipe from next door is full | Wessex Water (shared pipe) | Wessex Water |
| A chamber near the house is full, one nearer the road is empty, and only your pipe runs between | You | A drainage contractor |
| Upstairs backing up, downstairs fine | You | A drainage contractor or plumber |
| One sink or bath slow, everything else fine | You | A plunger first, then a contractor |
| Sewage from the public sewer entering your home or garden | Wessex Water | The Sewage Floodline, 0345 850 5 959 |
How to report a blocked sewer to Wessex Water
- Online: use the Wessex Water report a problem page.
- By phone: 0345 600 4 600. On its contact page, Wessex Water lists this number for sewerage issues, with office hours of 8am to 6pm on weekdays, and says emergencies can be reported on it 24 hours a day.
- Sewage flooding your home or garden from the public sewer: the Sewage Floodline, 0345 850 5 959, 24 hours a day.
- Live chat: weekdays, 8am to 6pm. Wessex Water also offers a BSL video service and Relay UK for text calls.
Phone numbers checked September 2026. Before you call, have ready your address, where the water is coming up, whether sewage is inside, in the garden or in the road, whether neighbours are affected, and a photo of any open chamber. Mention anyone at home with extra needs, as Wessex Water asks about this when you report a flood.
Don't pay a private firm to clear a shared sewer or dig up the pipe under the pavement. Those pipes belong to Wessex Water, and the 2011 government guidance says householders have no authority to commission work on them without checking with the water company first.
What to do while Wessex Water is on its way
- Stop using water. No flushing, washing machine, dishwasher, baths or showers. Tell everyone in the house.
- Keep away from sewage. Keep children and pets out of the area, wear gloves, wash your hands after any contact and disinfect your shoes, as Wessex Water advises.
- Put covers back. Never leave an open chamber unattended.
- Skip the chemicals. Drain cleaners won't reach a sewer blockage, and they make the water harmful for whoever clears it.
- Check gas and electrics. If sewage has reached a gas meter or appliance, Wessex Water advises calling the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 before using gas. If it has reached sockets, the fuse box or appliances, contact your electricity supplier before using them.
- Take photos and tell your insurer. Wessex Water says claims for loss or damage go through your household insurer. If you rent, tell your landlord too.
If sewage has flooded your home or garden
For floods from the public sewer, Wessex Water says it aims to respond within two hours for internal flooding and four hours for external flooding, and longer in severe weather. It offers a free clean-up, aiming to do it within 12 hours for internal floods and 24 hours for external ones.
It also pays sewer flooding compensation when the public sewer is to blame:
| Type of flood | What Wessex Water pays | How |
|---|---|---|
| Inside your home | Your annual sewerage charge or £300, whichever is more, up to £2,000 per incident | Automatic |
| Outside, within your boundary | Half your annual sewerage charge or £150, whichever is more, up to £1,000 per incident | You claim it |
There's no payment if the flood was caused by a private drain, a council or highway drain, something you did or an exceptional natural event, if it only affected land outside your boundary, or if you tell Wessex Water more than three months later.
When to call a drainage engineer instead
If the checks point to your own pipe, or Wessex Water has visited and told you the blockage is private, you need a contractor. Our engineers are based in Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch, and around there an engineer is with you usually within 60 minutes. Drain unblocking starts at £80, with a fixed price agreed before any work starts. No call-out fee. The same price day, night, weekends and bank holidays. If we can't clear it, you don't pay.
We cover Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and the rest of Dorset and Hampshire.
When to call an engineer
- Wessex Water has been out and says the pipe is yours
- the chamber near your house is full but the one by the boundary is clear
- the same drain keeps blocking on your side
- a smell or rats suggest a broken private pipe, which a CCTV drain survey can confirm
- sewage is backing up at night and you're not sure whose it is: see our emergency drain unblocking
Call 0800 246 5347 or send a photo of the open chamber with a callback request. If it looks like Wessex Water's pipe, we'll say so, and you can report it for free.
Southern Water areas in Hampshire
Most of Hampshire, including Southampton, Lymington and New Milton, has Southern Water as its sewerage company. The same split applies. Southern Water's blocked drain guidance asks you to check with neighbours first, then call 0330 303 0368 (charged at the local rate, 7am to 11pm on weekdays and 7.30am to 10.30pm at weekends when we checked in September 2026) or use its online report form.
If Southern Water can't work out where the blockage is from your answers, it visits. If the problem is on your property, it asks you to sign a consent form before it works there, and says it may charge if it's called back to a blockage in the same place. It also warns not to pay a private contractor for a shared section. Not sure which company handles your sewage? Bournemouth Water's wastewater page has a postcode search.
The engineer who wrote or checked this guide, with their role and the date it was reviewed.
Wessex Water blocked drains: common questions
Do Wessex Water unblock drains for free?
Yes, when the blockage is on Wessex Water's network: the public sewer, most shared pipes and the stretch of your own pipe beyond your boundary. It doesn't clear pipes inside your boundary that serve only your home. Those are yours, and Wessex Water points you to a private drainage contractor.
Is a shared drain Wessex Water's responsibility?
Usually. Wessex Water says most pipes connecting two or more properties are its responsibility, including ones that run through gardens. The exception is often a newer estate, connected after July 2011, where shared pipes haven't been adopted yet. Wessex Water can confirm whether a particular pipe is theirs.
What happens if Wessex Water finds the blockage is on my pipe?
It will tell you the pipe is private, and its guidance directs you to a private drainage contractor. You then book and pay for the clearance yourself, or your landlord does if you rent. Ask whoever attends to show you where the blockage is, so the contractor can go straight to it.
How quickly will Wessex Water come out?
For a blockage, Wessex Water says it clears its own pipes as quickly as it can. For sewage flooding from the public sewer, it aims to respond within two hours when the flood is inside your home and four hours when it's outside. Severe weather can make it longer.
Is Bournemouth Water the same company as Wessex Water?
No. Bournemouth Water, part of South West Water, supplies drinking water across much of the area. Sewers are run by Wessex Water or Southern Water, depending on where you live. For a blocked sewer, contact the sewerage company, not the company that supplies your tap water.
Can I see where the Wessex Water sewers are near my house?
Yes. Wessex Water offers a free online map of its network through its developer services site. Bear in mind that it says private drains and the pipes connecting homes aren't normally shown, and many pipes transferred in 2011 are missing from the records. A camera survey maps your own drains exactly.
Who clears a blocked road drain in Bournemouth, Poole or Christchurch?
BCP Council, not Wessex Water. Road gullies, the grates at the kerb, are the highway authority's job. You can report a blocked road drain to BCP Council online. Elsewhere in Dorset it's Dorset Council, and in most of Hampshire it's Hampshire County Council.