DRAKES BROUGHTON
BRIEF OVERVIEW
VILLAGE SEWAGE SYSTEM
Produced by members of Drakes Broughton Parish Council as a general guide to
the evolution and complexity of the village sewage system
The Early Years
The first indications that we can identify of an “integrated system” pipework
and treatment plant appear around the late 1940 although since it was by then
in operation it must have been installed at a much earlier date to replace
septic tanks and “other means” of sewage disposal.
The system was obviously put in place to deal with the initial increase in size of
the village [by this we refer to the older properties at the Southern end of the
village].
The map below shows a rudimentary system of pipes and a sewage treatment
works sited on the edge of Broughton Coppice, well away from the village
dwellings at that time. The plant [now demolished] was situated approximately
100m north of the present shops and was sited in what is now a resident’s
garden. The size and construction of the connecting pipework is unknown but
it would be reasonable to assume that it was constructed to cater for the small
increase in the size of the village that was taking place at that time.
It is worth noting that the line of the pipework is still evident in later maps
including maps of the present system. It is a fact that there is no evidence to
indicate that it has, in many places ever been replaced.
Evolution Of The System
The small original sewage treatment plant [shown above] was at some time
replaced by a larger plant, most probably in the 60’s to coincide with the next
planed increase in size of the village.
This again was a sewage treatment plant with solids being transported away by
road and the liquid outflow was into the ditch on its northern boundary which
flows into Bow Brook. [This outflow is still in use today]
Note The site for this system [shown below] was the site of the present sewage
pumping plant
Sometime around the late 70’s the treatment plant was demolished and a high
pressure pump installed to pump raw sewage for treatment at Pershore.
Overflow from this site [often raw sewage] most commonly occurring during
periods of heavy rain follows the route of the previous plant, which is directly
into the ditch which borders the North of the village.
The plan below of part of the village gives some indication of the details of
changes to the system and the complexity due to building in various stages.
Ownership Of The Sewage System
Whilst ownership of the sewage treatment plant has been the responsibility of
Pershore Rural District Council and later Severn Trent, ownership of the
pipework has had a much more chequered history.
In the late 70’s the situation was that much of the infrastructure in the
Southern end of the village [the older part of the village] was considered by all
as adopted, although this was not well documented, [It was considered not to
be the responsibility of individual residents]. The new developments ostensibly
at the Northern end of the village were in the main serviced by private drains
[private sewers] privately owned and privately maintained, [a fact which less
diligent residents overlooked when purchasing their properties]. This situation
came to “a head” at a time when residents were having difficulties selling
properties since solicitors were unable to identify connection to a sewage
system during routine searches, [a requirement for many of the lenders at that
time].
This was resolved [with the intervention of the then MP Peter Walker] who
negotiated with Severn Trent to adopt a very basic system which met the
requirements of searches by solicitors, this unfortunately still left the bulk of
the residents with the problems associated with the maintenance of a private
system.
Recently the water authorities nationally [in this case Severn Trent] have been
obliged to adopt the bulk of the system leaving only short runs of pipe work
connecting houses to the adopted system previously in private hands. One
ramification of this is that Severn Trent only has around 18 months experience
of the whole system, its problems and those projected in the future.
The Problems With The System
Leaving aside the blame game widely associated with the developers
associated with the sewage system in Drakes Broughton, the problems are
identified as follows
 The system [pipework] has evolved, it has not been designed and can
not be considered as fit for purpose even for current use. [The Parish
Council will provide evidence of this on a case by case basis]
 In most cases it was designed and designated as a combined storm
water and sewage system, meaning that when it rains and the
capacity of the pipework and the pump is exceeded, raw sewage has
been known to overflow.
 The construction of much of the system is believed to be “pitch
fibre”, material which fell into disrepute due to its lack of structural
integrity making it prone to collapse and easy ingress by tree roots
etc, the system was in many parts poorly installed and out of
alignment.
 Much of it was constructed as a private system with the following
consequences: Its installation was not stringently inspected and
overseen since it was never intended to be adopted. It runs on
private land i.e. in householders gardens etc not under the road as is
usual in a system built for adoption. There is a lack of structure i.e.
section has been connected to section in a way that would never be
allowed in a properly constructed system
 The lack of a local sewage treatment plant with sufficient capacity
lead to pumping raw sewage over a considerable distance, this was at
the time seen as the most cost effective solution and was installed to
deal with the sewage flow at that time, definitely not with the
increases currently imposed upon it, and certainly not suitable for
any further increased demand.
This method of treatment must be costly with, residents reporting
progressive amounts of activity on the pumping plant and all this at a
time where environmental issues are a major concern. It follows that
this system must be considered unfit for purpose and
unsustainable.