Blocked drains and drainage services across Berkshire
We cover all of Berkshire from Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch. It's a long drive, so you get a fixed price and a straight answer on timing before anyone sets off.
- Arrival time worked out on the phone
- One price list, wherever you live
- Thames Water's part explained plainly
If you need help with blocked drains in Berkshire, here's the honest picture first. Our engineers are based in Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch, on the Dorset coast. Newbury, the nearest big Berkshire town, is about 65 miles by road, and Slough nearly 90. We cover the whole county, but we won't pretend to be round the corner: you get a real arrival time when you call, worked out from where the team is that day.
My Local Drainage is part of the OneFlow Drainage group. Every Berkshire job is carried out by engineers from OneFlow Drainage, travelling up from the coast.
Blocked drains across Berkshire: how far we travel
| Town | Postcodes | Road miles from Christchurch | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newbury and Thatcham | RG14, RG18, RG19 | About 65 to 68 | A real arrival time when you call |
| Reading and Caversham | RG1, RG4, RG30, RG31 | About 73 | A real arrival time when you call |
| Wokingham | RG40, RG41 | About 76 | A real arrival time when you call |
| Bracknell | RG12, RG42 | About 80 | A real arrival time when you call |
| Maidenhead and Windsor | SL4, SL6 | About 85 | A real arrival time when you call |
| Slough and Langley | SL1 to SL3 | About 88 | A real arrival time when you call |
Miles are by road from Christchurch, the closest of our three home towns, measured with a route planner. Clear roads mean roughly 80 minutes to Newbury and nearly two hours to Slough, before any queues, so we work the time out with you rather than print a guess.
Berkshire towns we cover
- Reading: RG1 to RG31, from Katesgrove's Victorian streets to Caversham and Tilehurst.
- Slough: SL1 to SL3, the furthest Berkshire town from our engineers.
- Bracknell: RG12 and RG42, a new town designated in 1949.
- Wokingham: RG40 and RG41, with new homes going up on the former Arborfield Garrison.
- Newbury and Thatcham: RG14, RG18 and RG19, the nearest part of the county.
- Maidenhead: SL6, taking in Cookham and Bray.
- Windsor: SL4, including Clewer and Old Windsor.
- Hungerford and the Lambourn valley: RG17, about 72 miles away, in chalk country.
Who clears which drain in Berkshire
Thames Water runs the public sewers in every Berkshire town on this page, and its head office is in Reading. Since 1 October 2011 it has also owned pipes shared by two or more homes, and the stretch of your own drain after it leaves your land. It clears all of those free. Report a blocked sewer through Thames Water's blocked drains page or on 0800 316 9800, staffed day and night.
The pipe carrying only your household's waste, up to your boundary, is yours, and that's the part we're called out for. Our guide to who is responsible for blocked drains shows how to tell them apart.
Road drains are a council job. Berkshire has had no county council since 1998, so each of its six unitary councils clears the kerbside gullies in its own area: Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wokingham. Sewage lifting a manhole cover in the road goes to Thames Water instead.
What goes wrong with Berkshire drains
London Clay in the east. Most of the county east of Reading sits on London Clay. It shrinks in dry summers and near thirsty trees, then swells in winter, and that movement is known to crack sewers and service pipes. Roots follow the cracks. A CCTV drain survey finds them, and drain repairs fix them.
Chalk in the west. The Berkshire Downs are chalk, and in wet winters the water table rises through it. In the Lambourn valley, Thames Water has had to run tankers at Eastbury and Great Shefford because groundwater overwhelmed the sewers, and it says water gets into privately owned pipes and manholes too. If your toilet slows whenever the valley is waterlogged, call Thames Water first.
The houses themselves. Terraces like Reading's older streets often share one pipe behind the houses, a public sewer since 2011. Homes built from the 1950s to the 1970s, as much of Bracknell was, may have pitch fibre pipes, a pressed bitumen material that blisters and sags with age. Newer estates use plastic, which rarely cracks but still blocks with wipes and fat.
Drain survey Berkshire homes can book ahead
A survey is the easiest job to book from a distance, because we pick a date together. A CCTV drain survey costs from £150, and a homebuyer drain survey from £195. You get the recording and a written report within 48 hours.
Berkshire drainage company prices, however far we drive
Distance doesn't change what you pay. A blocked drain in Slough is priced from the same price list as one in Poole, with a fixed price agreed before any work starts. Unblocking starts from £80. No call-out fee. The same price day, night, weekends and bank holidays. All prices include VAT.
Berkshire drainage FAQs
What's a realistic arrival time in Reading?
We can't promise a set time. Reading is about 73 miles by road from Christchurch, where our nearest engineers are based, and that's well over an hour even with clear roads. Call and we'll give you an honest time for your street. If sewage is backing up and a firm nearer to you can come sooner, we'll say so.
Is Thames Water responsible for my blocked drain?
For part of it. Thames Water clears public sewers, pipes shared with neighbours and your drain beyond your boundary, at no cost to you. A blockage in the pipe serving only your home, inside your boundary, is yours to pay for. If next door has the same trouble, it's probably a shared pipe, so call Thames Water on 0800 316 9800 first.
Who unblocks the drains in the road in Slough or Windsor?
Your unitary council. Slough Borough Council deals with road gullies in Slough, and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead covers Windsor, Maidenhead and the villages around them. Both take reports on their websites. Sewage coming out of a manhole cover in the road is a different matter: that's the sewer, so it goes to Thames Water.
Do you charge more to come out to Berkshire?
No. We use one price list for every county we cover, so unblocking a drain in Bracknell costs the same as in Bournemouth. You get a fixed price agreed before any work starts. No call-out fee, and no charge for the miles.
Can you survey a house I'm buying in Newbury?
Yes. A homebuyer drain survey costs from £195, booked on a date that fits around your purchase. You get the camera footage and a written report within 48 hours to pass to your surveyor or solicitor. Newbury is the closest large Berkshire town to our engineers, about 65 miles by road.
Blocked drain somewhere in Berkshire?
Call 0800 246 5347 or put your postcode in the form below. You'll hear the fixed price and a real arrival time before you decide anything.