Surface water drainage
Surface Water is the rainwater that falls onto your roof, driveway and other parts of your property which drains away into our public sewers. Over time if this water is not removed, it can cause damage to your property.
How your charges are calculated
For most customers, the cost of removing and processing the rainwater is charged as part of your wastewater services. If you think your surface water is not being removed, you can apply for a reduction by getting in touch with our team.
If you are billed based on the Rateable Value (RV) of your home, the surface water drainage cost will be calculated based on your RV figure.
For water meter customers or customers that are billed on assessed charges, the surface water drainage cost will be calculated based on the property type (flat/terraced, semi-detached, or detached).
To see how you are charged, read our Scheme of Charges.
Applying for a reduction to surface water charges
It can be tricky to work out if your surface water drains into the public sewer. You will not be charged for surface water drainage if you are not connected for sewerage.
If you live on a new build estate, it may have been built with soakaways, be connected to Severn Trent sewers or have private sewers which may be adopted by Severn Trent in the future.
You may receive sewerage services from another water company if you live on the borders of our region. We may collect sewerage charges on behalf of another water company which will show on your bill. If you do receive sewerage services from another company, you'll need to contact them to claim a reduction.
Water butts do not qualify for a reduction in surface water charges as they can only hold a fixed amount of water that falls from the roof of the property. They do not collect the rainwater landing around your property.
If you think you qualify for a reduction in your surface water drainage charge, please contact us and we'll be happy to look into this for you.
You can conduct a Surface Water Drainage test to see if your surface water drains into the public sewer.
When the reduction will apply from
If you can show us that no surface water from your property or any shared area nearby drains directly or indirectly into a public sewer, we’ll stop charging you for surface water drainage. The change will take effect from the later of:
We consider each application individually. If your application is successful, your future bills will show ‘wastewater only’ instead of ‘wastewater and surface water drainage’.
If you think you may be eligible for this reduction, please get in touch with evidence such as photographs or drainage plans.
We’re here to help and will guide you through the process.
Understanding the highway drainage charges
Highway drainage is water that drains from any roads and footpaths that flow into public drainage systems.
There have recently been some small changes to the way we explain your bill and how the costs are broken down.
If you are unsure how your highway drainage charges are calculated, please read about our highway drainage charges.