It is advisable to contact Anglian Water in the first instance for a blocked sewer and they will inform you if it is private or public.
Public means that Anglian Water are responsible for clearing it. If it is a private sewer, it would be your responsibility to pay for clearance, along with any other neighbours that the sewer serves.
As East Cambridgeshire is a relatively rural district, many properties do not have access to the main sewer and therefore have to use other systems such as septic tanks or cesspools. If you have one of these systems, it is wise to understand how they work and what maintenance is required.
If you have a packaged sewage treatment plant, maintenance is much more specialised and ideally you should have a maintenance contract with the company who supplied it.
This type of system treats sewage to a much higher standard and if working correctly it can be discharged into a watercourse, providing consent is obtained from the Environment Agency, which can be contacted on 08708 506506.
If you have any further queries on these types of systems, please contact:
Environmental services, East Cambridgeshire District Council, The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, Cambs, CB7 4EE
Telephone: 01353 665555
Email: ContactUs@eastcambs.gov.uk