United Utilities: sewer flooding
There are currently two ongoing sewer flooding issues in the United Utilities region:
- sewer flooding in Penketh
- flooding systems and processes
1. Investigation into sewer flooding at Penketh
In September 2008, we secured a formal undertaking from United Utilities to address problems at properties in the Penketh area of Warrington affected by sewer flooding. The company committed to deliver four schemes in different parts of the Penketh catchment.
Following the company’s failure to meet the first deadline in the undertaking, on 29 January 2010 we published a final enforcement order. This required United Utilities to provide a capital solution to address problems at specified properties in the Penketh area of Warrington affected by sewer flooding by 31 August 2011.
We are satisfied that United Utilities has complied with the terms of the final enforcement order and that no further action is necessary.
Key publications
- Letter to United Utilities on Penketh sewer flooding (3 October 2008)
Consultations on enforcement action
| Proposed actions | Responses | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
| Proposed final enforcement order 2 November 2009 (PDF – 880Kb) | United Utilities response January 2010 (PDF – 27Kb) Consumer Council for Water response January 2010 (PDF – 32Kb) Customer responses January 2010 (PDF – 91Kb) 1 confidential response received | Final enforcement order 29 January 2010 PDF – 1.68Mb) |
Announcements
2. Investigation into flooding systems and processes
During our investigation into the problems that customers in the Penketh area experienced, we identified that the company had reported inaccurate data regarding the number of properties at risk of flooding from sewers.
United Utilities has put in place new systems to investigate and record sewer flooding incidents to bring them in line with industry best practice. It has given a further formal undertaking to assess and offer (at its shareholders’ expense) solutions to mitigate the sewer flooding problems at all 1,600 properties on its revised ‘at risk’ registers by September 2012. As part of the undertaking, an independent review has been carried out on the company’s new systems and processes.
Key publications
- Undertaking under section 19(1)(b) of the Water Industry Act 1991 (22 October 2009)
