CCTV Survey in Chatham
Chatham's separate sewer system and mixed property ages create specific drainage challenges. With a quarter of homes built before 1920, salt-glazed clay pipes and solder-joint copper are common in ME4, ME5 and ME6 postcodes. Our CCTV surveys identify root ingress, joint collapse and misconnections — essential when mortgage lenders require pre-purchase clearance.
A CCTV drain survey in Chatham uses high-definition camera to inspect underground pipes, identifying blockages, root ingress, cracks and misconnections in older salt-glazed clay sewers. Results are coded to industry standards and accepted by mortgage lenders.
Drainage in Chatham — what local engineers know
Southern Water manages foul and surface drainage across Chatham (ME4–ME7), while Medway Council enforces sewer connection standards. The separate sewer system here creates a known enforcement issue: misconnections, such as washing machines plumbed into surface water drains instead of foul sewers. Salt-glazed clay pipes dating to the Victorian and Edwardian eras are vulnerable to root ingress and joint collapse, especially across ME6 and ME7 where older housing dominates. Coastal salt-laden air accelerates corrosion of external soil stacks and galvanised brackets. A CCTV survey is essential before purchase and after repeated blockages.
- Hard water supply causes limescale accumulation in boilers, radiators and soil pipe joints — powerflush and descaling demand is high across Chatham
- Separate sewer system across most of Chatham: misconnections (e.g. washing machines plumbed into surface water drains) are a known local issue and can result in environmental enforcement action
- Coastal salt-laden air in Chatham accelerates corrosion of external soil stacks, pipe brackets and galvanised fittings on exposed elevations
- With 32% of properties built before 1920, salt-glazed clay drainage and lead-solder copper pipework are common — pipe collapse, root ingress and joint failure are recurring call-out drivers.
What happens when you call us in Chatham
- 1 Immediate dispatch. We find the nearest available engineer covering ME4/ME5 and confirm the ETA before the call ends.
- 2 On-site diagnosis — no guessing. The engineer inspects using our high-definition camera system and quotes a fixed price before work starts.
- 3 Job complete, report issued. You receive a written completion report. All work is guaranteed — same fault returns within the guarantee period, we come back free.
Who's responsible for drains in Chatham?
In Chatham, responsibility for a blocked or damaged drain depends on where the fault sits. As a homeowner you are responsible for the drains within your property boundary that serve only your home. Since the 2011 private sewer transfer, Southern Water is responsible for shared sewers and lateral drains beyond your boundary — even where they run under private land. Road gullies and highway drainage are maintained by Medway.
This matters because it determines who pays. If our engineer's CCTV inspection shows the fault is in a shared sewer, we'll tell you — and you can report it to Southern Water rather than paying for the repair yourself. The separate sewer layout that dominates Chatham affects where these boundaries typically fall, and our local engineers know the ME4, ME5, ME6 networks well enough to identify ownership quickly.
CCTV Survey prices in Chatham
Every Chatham job is quoted as a fixed price before work starts — what we quote is what you pay, with no call-out fee for providing the quote. The final price depends on access (an external inspection chamber is quicker than internal-only access), the pipe material and condition , and how established the blockage or fault is. Request your free quote and we'll confirm the price and your engineer's ETA in the callback.