What you need to know about manholes
How to find manholes, who is responsible and how to report a problem with them.
A manhole is a hole in the ground covered with a lid that allows us to access our sewer network.
Manholes come in a range of different shapes and sizes. Some manholes can be large enough to enable us to climb down into them to carry out inspections of the sewers.
If the cover or frame of a manhole becomes damaged or missing they can be dangerous.
Sewers are dangerous and should only be entered if you are:
How to identify and find a manhole
Manholes can found in a range of places including:
They are very likely to be on your property to allow access to your drains. They can also be found anywhere where a sewer or drain runs below the ground.
Its tricky to identify which manholes belong to us due to the different covers they have. Manholes could be covers for wastewater or clean water services.
Gas, electric, telecoms and digital media providers also have covers in the ground too.
Washout cover
Fire hydrant
Boundary box
Boundary box
The local highways authority own and are responsible for maintaining road gullies. You can find out who to contact regarding these on their website.
Telecoms lid
Telecoms lid
Telecoms lid
Utilities lid
Responsibility for repairing or replacing a manhole
Severn Trent have over 2 million manholes that we are responsible for maintaining.
We will repair and maintain all wastewater manholes in the following places:
Manholes within your property boundary belong to you. This is unless the sewer is on a shared pipe that serves you and your neighbours. However, if your home was built after 2011, shared pipes will be the responsibility of the home owner.
You can find out which sewer pipes are your responsibility on our website.
Manholes located on any other private land belong to the land/property owner.
We are not responsible for road gullies, these belong to the local highways authority. If you spot a problem with a road gully you will need to contact the local highways authority.
If the manhole belongs to another utility, telecoms or media company you would need to contact them to report it.