Drainage Services in Ratho

We clear blocked drains, survey pipes on camera and repair damaged drainage in Ratho and the farms and cottages around it. Call 07427 195142; our base in Pumpherston is only a few miles away across the countryside west of Edinburgh.

A canal-side village with mixed drainage

Ratho grew up along the Union Canal, and the village still has a core of older cottages and terraces alongside newer housing. In the village most homes connect to the public sewer through a private drain. Outside it, many farmhouses, steadings and rural cottages have no mains connection at all and rely on a septic tank and soakaway.

Those two set-ups go wrong in different ways, so it helps to know which you have before you call.

Blocked drains in the village

On mains drainage, a blockage usually shows as a slow toilet or sink, gurgling, or a chamber in the garden filling up. We lift the covers to find the blocked length, clear it with rods or water jetting, and flush the run through. Older clay pipes in established gardens are prone to roots getting in at the joints, and fat from the kitchen is a regular cause in any age of house.

Septic tanks and soakaways

If your property is off mains, a slow drain can be a sign of a problem anywhere between the house and the soakaway: a blocked pipe into the tank, a tank that needs attention, or a soakaway that is no longer letting water away. We do not empty tanks, but we can advise on what is happening and survey the pipework on camera to find out where the problem sits.

Our guides to septic tank maintenance in Scotland and soakaways and surface water drainage explain how these systems work and what the warning signs are.

Rain, run-off and outside drains

Properties on the edge of the village often take a lot of water off fields, tracks and driveways when it rains. Gullies and channel drains that carry that water can fill with silt and gravel, and once they do, water finds its own route, often towards the house. Clearing the gullies and jetting the pipe beyond them restores the flow.

If water ponds in the same place after every heavy shower, the pipe or soakaway serving that area may be blocked, broken or simply undersized. A camera survey is the quickest way to tell which.

Finding faults on camera

A CCTV drain survey records the inside of the pipe so you can see cracks, roots, displaced joints or silt for yourself. It is the best first step when a drain keeps blocking, and the footage and written report are yours to keep.

Repairs

Where the pipe is cracked but still in shape, a no-dig patch can seal it from inside without digging up the garden. Where it has collapsed, we excavate and replace the damaged length. Read more on our drain repairs page, or book through the contact page.

Telling a drain problem from a soakaway or tank problem

Out-of-village homes sometimes have water pooling in the garden and nobody is sure which part of the system is to blame. A few clues help. If the toilets and sinks slow down together and the inspection chamber by the house is full, the main foul pipe is the likely culprit. If the house drains fine but wet patches appear over a field or lawn, or the ground stays soggy long after rain, the soakaway or the outlet from the tank may no longer be taking water away.

Where rainwater pipes have been joined into the foul drain, heavy showers can also flood a run that copes perfectly in dry weather. Noting whether the trouble follows rain or follows heavy household use, such as washing days, gives us a head start. We can clear the pipework, look inside it with the camera and explain what we see, so you know which part needs attention.

Questions