Drainage Services in Ely

Ely stands on a low chalk and clay rise, historically an island above the surrounding Fens, and the cathedral city's older streets carry Victorian clay drainage laid over ground that sits close to the water table for much of the year. Later residential development on the edges of the city uses more modern separate systems, but the surrounding Fenland villages such as Littleport and Prickwillow are low-lying and depend on an extensive network of drains, ditches and pumping stations.

The high water table across the Fens means surface water drainage relies as much on maintained dykes and pumped outfalls as on piped sewers, and properties on the fen edge can experience groundwater intrusion into older drains during wet periods. Rural and outlying properties beyond the mains network commonly use septic tanks or small package treatment plants, given the challenges of gravity drainage on such flat ground.

We survey with CCTV first to understand pipe condition on ground that can shift seasonally with water table changes. High-pressure jetting clears silt that fen ground can introduce into surface water drains, no-dig relining repairs cracked or displaced clay pipework without disturbing historic streets, and we offer percolation testing for the many septic tank systems serving Ely's outlying fen villages.