Drainage Services in Chard

Chard has an unusual position: it sits high on a ridge where water flows both north to the Bristol Channel and south to the English Channel, and its main street was historically flanked by channels running in opposite directions. That watershed setting means long, steep drainage runs off the ridge in both directions, scouring at the top and dropping debris where gradients ease.

Geology is greensand over heavy Lias and Wealden clay. Where greensand is present percolation is reasonable, but the clay beneath and around the town drains poorly and moves seasonally, cracking older pipework and opening joints. The junction between the two produces spring lines that keep groundwater high locally regardless of recent rainfall. The town centre retains Victorian clay drainage, some combined, with root ingress from mature trees, while the post-war and modern estates use clay-to-plastic separated systems on steeper ground.

In Chard we CCTV survey first to distinguish spring-line groundwater, clay movement and blockage, all three of which occur here. High-pressure jetting clears silt and root blockages in the older clay runs, no-dig lining repairs fractured pipework on steep, constrained plots without excavation, and surface-water systems are designed from measured percolation because performance varies sharply between greensand and clay.