Blocked Drains Derby

In Derby the public sewers belong to Severn Trent Water. If the blockage is in a pipe you share with a neighbour, or beyond your boundary, it's normally the water company's to clear — call Severn Trent on 0800 783 4444. If it's in a drain that serves only your property, it's yours, and that's where we come in. Our engineer finds the blockage first and tells you whose it is before any work starts.

Water pooling around a road gully outside? Road drains are Derby City Council's responsibility — report it to the council. We clear private gullies, channels and manholes anywhere in City Centre, Allestree, Alvaston, Allenton and the rest of DE1, DE3, DE21–DE24, DE65, DE72 and DE73.

The Markeaton Brook flood of May 1932 led to a relief culvert being built in 1938. Much of the city sits on Mercia Mudstone, a clay that drains slowly and shrinks and swells with the seasons — hard on older rigid clay drains, and a poor bet for soakaways without a percolation test.

Normanton and Pear Tree have dense Victorian terraced streets, where rear drains are often shared and a blockage in the shared section is normally Severn Trent's to clear.

Storm Babet in October 2023 brought the highest River Derwent level on record in Derby, and £35m was secured for the next phase of the city's Our City Our River flood defences in February 2025. Derby City Council says its Derby Riverside works protect about 1,200 properties, with around 670 more to follow.