Drainage Services in Leicester

Leicester grew rapidly during the Victorian era around its hosiery and boot-making industries, and vast areas of terraced housing built in that period, from Clarendon Park to Belgrave, still rely in large part on original clay drainage laid over the clay and mudstone that underlies much of the city. These pipes, now well over a century old, are prone to root ingress from established street trees and to cracking where ground movement has occurred, and combined sewers remain common throughout the older terraced network.

The River Soar and its associated canal running through the city centre and Aylestone keep the water table relatively high in low-lying areas, which can exacerbate slow drainage and occasional surcharging during heavy rain. Post-war and more recent estates towards Knighton and Oadby use plastic drainage systems with more reliable falls, though the sheer density of Leicester's older housing stock means blocked or collapsed clay pipes remain a frequent issue across much of the city.

We start Leicester jobs with a CCTV drain survey to identify whether a blockage stems from root ingress, silt linked to the Soar's influence on groundwater, or a genuine structural collapse in older clay pipework. High-pressure jetting clears the majority of blockages without excavation, and no-dig lining allows us to repair cracked or displaced pipes beneath the tightly packed terraced streets without disturbing shared boundary walls or narrow rear access.