Waste Repairs in Leicester

We’re currently making emergency sewer repairs on Knighton Park area of Leicester, and we’re sorry for the disruption this may be causing.          

While our teams will be working on repairs, we’ll also be using pumps in the area to connect to our network so everything can continue to operate as usual for you.                    

While we hope this doesn’t cause too much of an impact, we fully understand that any traffic management and noise from our pumps can be frustrating, and we’re sorry if it causes any issues for you.  

Thank you for understanding, and please be assured we’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible. 

Unfortunately, a third party has caused a blockage in our sewer pipe in Knighton Park.          

We’re sorry for the disruption caused by needing these emergency works, and we’re helping to put things right. To ensure you have the right information, we wanted to provide you with a direct update of how this has happened, and what we’re doing.

What’s happened?

This incident was caused by tarmac and other debris being found in our sewer pipes. This has created a large blockage and led to wastewater backing up and entering the surface water system that flows into the local river, and our teams stopped this quickly. Our sewer pipes are clearly not designed to take tarmac or anything other than wastewater, so our priority is to clear it as quickly as we can.

What is Severn Trent doing about it?

As soon as we became aware on Saturday (25^th April), our teams attended to investigate what happened and we’ve been on site since. We began work immediately to understand what has caused this, and our teams discovered a large amount of tarmac and debris. We have started to clear this and will be returning again tonight with specialist tankers to help ensure it is fully clear and free flowing. There is a large amount to clear, but the good news is progress is being made.

In the meantime, we are using pumps in the area to connect to our network, so everything can continue to operate as usual.

We have also been taking samples and carrying out river walks and checks to make sure the issue was stopped and that the area is clean. We will be on site 24/7 until this is sorted.

How does something like this happen?

We will be investigating how the tarmac and debris entered the network and will be looking to find those who were responsible and making them aware.

Our priority first though, is to protect the river, clear the pipe fully and get everything back to normal quickly, which is already well underway.

Will you be cleaning the river?

Absolutely, we are carrying out a full clean‑up of the affected area to help return it to its natural state. While this is already happening, we will be carrying out further checks, taking more samples and river walks to be sure.

We understand how upsetting this is, especially given how important this park and waterway are to the local community like yourselves. Our teams are working 24/7 to resolve the issue and get everything back to normal as quickly as possible.