Building and Developing
Before you apply
There are some key things you need to know before you’re ready to apply for a new connection. Once you can have considered all of these you are all set to send us your application.
It's your responsibility to make the sewer connection, and before you apply for our approval you need to know what type of sewers are available to you and whether a connection is possible.
You can request a copy of our maps. Following a change in government legislation in 2011 a lot of private drains and sewer have transferred into our ownership and our maps are still being updated.
When it comes to your water pipes, it’s important to understand who’s responsible for fixing and replacing your water pipes.
We'll need to know if you are making a direct connection or an indirect connection. The application costs for these connections differ so you need to be aware which is required before you apply.
- A direct connection is any connection that is made to any public sewer.
- An indirect connection is a connection to a private drain that then goes into a public sewer.
This diagram shows a typical sewer layout, any connection made to the red pipe would be classed as a direct connection, any to the green would be an indirect.
There are two types of sewage; foul and surface water. Foul is any used water from the property e.g. toilets, showers, sinks, washing machines etc. and will need to be taken away via the foul sewer. If the property is also discharging used process water and/or contaminated water, you will need to obtain Trade Effluent Consent before applying for a new connection
Surface water is any rainwater collected from impermeable areas e.g. roof, driveway, patio. Surface water should only be connected to a sewer if ground conditions do not permit the use of a soakaway or there is no local watercourse available to drain to. If you are making a surface water connection we will need to see evidence of why soakaways cannot be used. For more information on soakaways see our FAQs.
Each commerical property doesn't have to have individual connections and it is quite common for them to share a sewer pipe. If you are installing a shared sewer pipe, please see our guidance on sewer adoptions. Please note that commercial properties that are to be contained within the same curtilage may not need to offer all the drainage for adoption, only any lateral drains.
If there are both foul and surface water sewers in your area we will expect you to make a separate connection to each sewer.
If we have a combined sewer (shown in red on our records) that you can connect to and no surface water sewer within the vicinity, then you'll only need to apply for one connection.
You'll be required to gain our approval for each connection you make to the existing sewer. Please refer to our guidance on sewer connections for information on when you must apply for an adoption agreement before applying to connect to the sewer.
Each connection has an application fee associated to it.
You need to employ a contractor to carry out the sewer connection work.
If you're making a direct connection to a public sewer, we will need you to provide their details along with their Health and Safety policy, a site specific risk assessment, and a method statement with your application so that we can ensure they are safe to work on the sewer network.
If any of the sewer connections are within public highway your contractor will need to have the relevant licence from the council.
If not, you can request a copy of our maps.
If there are any public sewers on site which your new property will affect you may need to apply to have these diverted or built over.
If you are crossing into third party land to make your sewer connection, you must first enter into an adoption agreement with Hafren Dyfrdwy. Please see our guidance on sewer connections and our guidance on sewer adoptions.
The third party will need to sign into the adoption agreement to confirm their agreement to the installation of the new sewer or lateral drain.
Hafren Dyfrdwy can’t give permission to you or your contractor to enter or carry out work on private land. You will be responsible for arranging this and negotiating any terms with the land owner
If not, you do not need to apply yet.
Our approvals are valid for 6 months. If you don’t think you'll be making your sewer connection in that time then now isn’t the right time to apply.