Telford · TF1, TF2, TF3, TF4, TF5, TF6, TF7

Emergency Drainage in Telford

What to do first when a tank overflows, sewage backs up or a drain floods, and how to reach a local specialist once the immediate risk is contained. Serving Telford and the surrounding villages, including Tibberton, Waters Upton, Ercall Magna, Kynnersley.

Call 01743 562954 Describe your problem

Photo: Christopher Hilton · CC BY-SA 2.0

Some drainage problems can wait for a convenient appointment. Sewage backing up into a bathroom cannot. Neither can an overflowing septic tank or cesspit, a collapsed drain flooding a yard, or a treatment plant in alarm at a holiday let.

A drainage failure in the Telford area escalates differently by district. On the Weald Moors, everything connects: an overflow finds a drainage channel, the channel feeds the Strine and the Tern, and a household problem becomes a watercourse problem quickly — report it to the Environment Agency hotline if it does. In the gorge, the urgent risk is sewage on steep ground heading for the Severn. Either way, stop water going into the system first and keep people clear of what has come out.

Within a few minutes of Telford’s centre you reach villages and farmsteads that mains sewerage never reached. The north of the borough in particular, out across the Weald Moors towards Kynnersley and Ercall Magna, is dependent on private systems, and the gorge-side properties around Ironbridge and Coalport include older houses with equally old drainage arrangements.

How emergency drainage works, in full →

Access and practicalities around Telford

Access varies enormously, from good roads on the urban fringe to narrow moor lanes in the north and steep, tight streets dropping into the gorge. Matching the vehicle to the job matters here, and long hose runs are what reach tanks sitting well away from hard standing.

Local watercourses around Telford

The borough drains south to the Severn through the gorge, with the Weald Moors laced with drainage channels and the River Tern skirting the north. Watercourses near tanks are common, and on the moors a high water table adds its own constraint on what a compliant discharge looks like.

What to do right now

Stop using water in the property. No toilets, showers, dishwasher or washing machine, because every litre that goes in has to come out somewhere
Keep people and animals well away from standing sewage, and wash hands and any skin that has touched it thoroughly
Never enter a septic tank, cesspit or treatment plant, and never lean in. These are confined spaces holding hydrogen sulphide and methane, and the air in them can kill in seconds
Keep tank covers closed and secure, and keep children and pets away from any cover that has been lifted or damaged
If sewage is reaching a ditch, stream, brook or river, report it to the Environment Agency incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60, which is staffed around the clock
If effluent has entered the house, shut off the affected rooms and keep it away from anywhere food is prepared or stored
Photograph the affected area before any clean-up, for your insurer and for whoever attends
Note when it started and what changed just before, because that is the first thing any contractor will ask

Around Telford

As well as Telford itself, the surrounding villages and farms are covered, including Tibberton, Waters Upton, Ercall Magna, Kynnersley, Rodington, Wrockwardine, Little Wenlock. If you are somewhere smaller or somewhere between, get in touch anyway.