Drainage Services in Cambridge

Cambridge sits low in the Cam valley on river gravels and Gault Clay, with a naturally high water table that has shaped drainage in the city for centuries. The historic centre and older residential streets around Chesterton and Cherry Hinton retain Victorian and Edwardian clay drainage, much of it combined, while newer suburbs and developments such as Cambourne to the west use modern separate systems in plastic pipe.

The flat, low-lying terrain means surface water can be slow to drain naturally, and the many mature trees along the Backs and in the older colleges' grounds contribute to root ingress in nearby drains. Fen-edge areas towards Fen Ditton sit close to the water table year-round, which can affect the performance of older brick or clay surface water drains during wet winters.

We start every job with a CCTV survey to establish pipe material, age and condition, particularly important in a city with such a long building history. High-pressure jetting deals with root ingress from mature street and college trees, and no-dig relining lets us repair cracked or displaced clay sections without disturbing historic streets, college grounds or listed building curtilages.