Private Sewer Rehabilitation Programme

Overview

The private sewers, also known as sanitary drain-lines, are owned by the private premises' owners. These owners are responsible for maintaining the private sewers.

Used water from private premises, such as condominiums, commercial and industrial buildings, is sent to public sewers through the private sewer network.

What you can do as a private premise's owner

1. Check your private sewers regularly
You can engage a contractor to check if your private sewers are leak-free and properly connected to the public sewer. This can be done by carrying out a leak test or other means.

2. Repair any leaks
You should carry out the necessary repairs, if any leaks are found in your private sewers. You can engage a contractor or contact PUB for assistance. 

View the list of contractors who have carried out sewer rehabilitation works in PUB's past and current contracts.

Private Sewer Rehabilitation Programme

1. Under the private sewer rehabilitation programmes, PUB conducts checks and assists in the investigation of the private sewers within private premises (condominiums, commercial or industrial buildings, etc.). The identified defective private sewers will be rehabilitated subsequently.
2. PUB has completed the following private sewer rehabilitation programmes:
   Marina Reservoir Catchment (2006 - 2011)
   Punggol and Serangoon Reservoir Catchment (2010 -2013)
   Jurong Lake Catchment (2013 - 2019)
3. PUB is currently in the midst of looking into extending the private sewer rehabilitation programme in the Western Catchment (2021 - 2026).
4. The government provides the following assistance to premises owners, whose private sewers are found to be defective.
   1. Technical assistance
   2. List of contractors who are able to carry out the work
   3. Subsidy for the rehabilitation cost
5. The subsidy is based on the proportion of length of private sewers outside the premises or 5% of the total repair cost, whichever is higher.
6. The illustration below shows how the subsidy is calculated.

Rehabilitation cost

In the illustration, the total length of private sewers is 10m and the length outside the property boundary is 2m. Therefore:

Percentage of rehabilitation cost borne by government = 2/10 x 100% = 20%
Percentage of rehabilitation cost borne by owner = 8/10 x 100% = 80%

If the proportion of private sewers outside the boundary is found to be less than 5%, the government will bear 5% of the rehabilitation cost.