Burst Main or Blocked Drain Shirley | How to Tell
Wet floor, soggy garden or backed-up sink in Shirley? Here's how to tell if it's a burst supply pipe or a blocked drain, and exactly who to call for each.
Something's wrong. There's water where there shouldn't be, or water that won't go where it should. You're standing in your Shirley garden, or staring at a sink that's refusing to drain, and you genuinely don't know whether to ring Severn Trent or a drainage company.
Getting that call wrong wastes time and, often, money. So here's how to read what you're actually looking at.
The Core Difference
A burst or leaking supply pipe involves pressurised clean water coming in to your property. A blocked or damaged drain involves wastewater or surface water that can't get out. Same wet result on the surface. Very different problem underground.
The distinction matters because:
- Severn Trent own the water main in the road and the communication pipe up to your property boundary. Their leak, their fix, no charge to you.
- The supply pipe from your boundary to your internal stopcock is yours.
- Your drains, from the drain pots at your property to the public sewer, are generally your responsibility until they connect with a shared sewer (which may have transferred to Severn Trent under the 2011 regulations).
Tell-Tale Signs: Burst or Leaking Supply Pipe
These point toward a supply-side problem:
- Water bubbling up through tarmac or a grass verge on the road in front of your house, especially on Stratford Road, Marshall Lake Road or the residential streets off Haslucks Green Road
- Your water pressure has dropped noticeably or stopped altogether
- The wet patch in your garden appears even when it hasn't rained and you haven't used the garden tap
- Your water meter is spinning when every tap is closed
- The water appearing is clean, not discoloured or smelly
- Ground is wet in a straight line from the road toward your house
If the leak is in the road or footpath: call Severn Trent on 0800 783 4444. If it's between your boundary and your house, it's your pipe and your plumber's job, not a drainage company.
Tell-Tale Signs: Blocked or Damaged Drain
These point toward a drainage problem:
- Water backing up in your sink, bath, shower or toilet, or gurgling sounds when one fixture drains and another gurgles
- A drain pot or inspection chamber in your garden is full or overflowing
- The water is discoloured, smells, or contains waste
- Wet patch appears near a drain pot, a gulley, or at a low point in your garden after rain
- Multiple fixtures slow at once (kitchen sink, bathroom basin, downstairs toilet all sluggish) suggesting a blockage on the shared underground run
- A toilet that flushes but the water rises before it slowly falls
Properties in Shirley, particularly on the older Victorian and Edwardian streets around Shirley Road and the 1930s semis off Bills Lane, often have clay pipe drainage that's now 80 to 100 years old. Cracked joints, displaced sections and root ingress from garden trees are all common findings when we put a camera down.
A Quick Reference
| Symptom | More Likely | Who to Call |
|---|---|---|
| Clean water in road or verge | Burst main | Severn Trent (free) |
| Pressure drop across the house | Supply leak | Severn Trent or plumber |
| Meter spinning, all taps off | Supply leak | Severn Trent or plumber |
| Backed-up sink or toilet | Blocked drain | Drainage company |
| Smelly water near drain pot | Blocked or damaged drain | Drainage company |
| Soggy patch near drain, no rain needed | Possibly cracked drain | CCTV survey |
| Water rising slowly after heavy rain | Surface water drain issue | Drainage company |
When It's Genuinely Unclear
Sometimes it's both. A cracked drain running close to a supply pipe can make ground wet in ways that are hard to read from the surface. If you've checked the obvious signs and still can't work it out, a CCTV drain survey will tell you within an hour what's happening underground and where. That's not a sales pitch, it's the fastest way to a definitive answer rather than guessing.
One job we attended in Shirley last winter looked for all the world like a supply leak. Wet garden, no smell, appeared after a dry spell. Camera showed a displaced pipe joint on the foul drain running directly beneath the garden tap supply line. Two problems, one wet patch. Neither Severn Trent nor the homeowner's plumber would have found the drain fault on their own.
When You've Got a Blocked Drain
Don't pour chemical products down it. They won't shift a root ingress, a displaced joint or a grease blockage that's built up over years, and they'll damage older clay or cast iron pipework. High-pressure water jetting, done properly using Water Jetting Association methods, shifts the blockage without attacking the pipe walls.
If the blockage keeps coming back, the camera will show you why.
Drainsco covers Shirley and all the Solihull B postcodes, with engineers available 24/7. There's no call-out fee, and you'll get a clear price before any work starts. If you're not sure which problem you've got, ring us and describe what you're seeing. We'll tell you honestly whether it's ours to fix or whether Severn Trent is the right first call.
Priya Nair, CCTV survey and diagnosis specialist
Priya is the one who reads the camera footage. She handles the survey work, the pre-purchase reports and the build-over enquiries, and she will happily explain why a drain that keeps blocking almost always has a cause worth finding rather than a clear-out worth repeating.
Blocked drain in Solihull?
Engineers on call 24/7. A clear price before we lift a cover, and no call-out fee.
0121 816 1938