Who is Responsible For Rats in Drains?
While it is not a common household drainage problem, rats can get into drain pipes from the sewage system and sewer pipes leading to your home and infest the drainage network under your property. An infestation of rats or other vermin can cause significant damage to your drainage system and pipes, and lead to problems like blockages, leaks and other challenges.
To find out who is responsible for rats in drains, you need to find out where the rats came from. You can speak to a drainage specialist who can check for rats in your drain pipes and sewer pipes in order to understand how they accessed your system, and can also advise you on the most appropriate course of action if you think there are rats causing problems in your drains.
Here, the experts at Lanes Group will explain who is responsible for rats in drains, and what to do when you suspect you have a problem with an infestation.
Who is responsible?
The answer to this question depends on where exactly the rats have originated from. It can be difficult to determine how rats got into the drains in your home, but they commonly come from sewer pipes. You can ask a drainage specialist for help to find out if there are rats in your drains and to trace the rats to their source using a CCTV drainage survey. This involves inserting a camera into the pipes to check their condition, which can highlight any access points that may have been a point of ingress for an infestation.
If the rat problem originated in a public drainage system, you need to contact your local water authority, as they are responsible for the maintenance of public sewer pipes. If the rats have entered into the drains on your property, you will need to arrange to have them removed by a pest control specialist as you are responsible for your own drains.
If you do not own your property, the landlord will usually be responsible for rats in the drains and should contact a pest control specialist at the earliest opportunity. You can find out more information on your specific maintenance requirements by checking your tenancy agreement or speaking to the landlord about the problem.
Ultimately, if you are responsible for the drains under your property – i.e., if you are the owner of the property – you will also be responsible for any damage caused by rats that emerge from the drains. Even if the rats originated from a public sewer or another drainage system connected to yours, you could be held responsible unless you work to resolve the problem.
What should I do if there are rats in my drain pipes?
Most of the time, the responsibility for rats in your drains falls on you, meaning that it is your duty to fix the issue and hire a professional pest controller. If you are not the owner of the property, you should speak to your landlord about the problem – this applies to both domestic and commercial tenants.
If you suspect there is a rodent infestation in your pipes, a drainage expert can help you find out whether rats are the cause of the problem, where they are coming from, the size of the infestation and any additional damage that your drainage system has sustained. They can also help if the rats have caused damage to your drains, either by arranging to carry out repair work or offering advice on maintenance that can prevent problems from getting worse.
Rats can chew through important structures, including your drains and pipes, which can lead to leaks or blockages. As soon as you suspect a problem, you should seek professional help and advice, and you should never attempt to deal with the problem on your own. You should never try to trap, remove or poison rats in the drains, because this can result in injury, environmental harm and other problems, and without the proper tools, it will be impossible for you to confidently determine that the infestation has been completely removed.
When working to remove rats from your drains, you should also contact local authorities, particularly if you suspect that the rats emerged from a public sewer. Even when infestations are successfully dealt with, rodent populations can recover within six months, which can make this a recurring problem. Because rats often move between the sewer and the surface, it is difficult to ensure the problem is completely resolved without support from your local water authority or council.
How to prevent rats in drains
To avoid pest infestations completely, you should check your drains often and ensure any damage is fixed sooner rather than later. Even a small crack or hole in your drains can be big enough for rats to enter, and once they do, they can quickly breed and multiply.
A drainage specialist can inspect and clean your drains, and let you know of any repairs that need to be done. They can also conduct these repairs for you. This can prevent rats from getting into your drains and your property, so if you are concerned about a problem, have noticed signs of rats, or believe there may be a leak or a broken pipe somewhere in your system, you should contact the experts at Lanes as soon as possible.
Installing a rat blocker for drains can also be a beneficial option. This can stop rats from getting into your drains and property, whilst still allowing the water to flow and the drains to work as they should. A pest control or drainage expert may be able to help you to install a rat blocker, but it will not be suitable for every type of pipe or system so you should research this before purchasing such a device.
Most rat infestations are caused by the lure of food, and you can avoid infestations (and other problems, like blockages) by refraining from washing food down your sink. You can purchase devices that stop food from going down your drains but the best practice is simply to scrape any waste into the bin before you wash up.
Speak to a drainage specialist
If you suspect there are rats in your drains and want guidance on how to deal with the problem, get in touch with the specialist drainage engineers at Lanes Group straight away.
Our team can use CCTV drain surveys to seek out where the problem lies and stop rats from coming back into your drain pipes. A CCTV drain survey uses tiny, flexible cameras that work their way down your pipes to scope out the issue, allowing our team to identify weaknesses and make crucial repairs, or to locate the source of a rodent infestation.
To find out more, give us a call on 0800 526 488 to see how we can help you.
