For sustainability and to protect our customers from potential future sewer flooding, we will not normally accept any surface water connections into our combined sewer system.

There may be exceptional circumstances where we would allow such a connection for brownfield sites only. However, this will require significant justification from the customer, taking account of various factors including legal, physical, and technical challenges.

To avoid costs and delays, where a surface water discharge to our combined sewer system is anticipated, the developer should contact us as soon as possible prior to making a connection request, with strong evidence to support the intended drainage plan.

We will assess this evidence and provide a decision that reflects the best option from environmental and customer perspectives. If you wait until the connection request stage before consulting with us, the connection may be refused.

For further details see our Surface Water Policy Guidance document which can be found on the Document Hub page