Brighton Sewer Tours

26/02/2015

The hosts of our world-famous Sewer Tours are giving parts of Brighton’s Victorian sewers a fresh lick of white paint.

Stuart Slark and his fellow tour guides will spend the next few weeks refreshing the main areas of the sewers ready for this year’s tours, which start in May.

For more than 50 years, the tours have given visitors a glimpse underground at the Victorian infrastructure which is still in use today. Last year, 1,600 people delved beneath the city streets with Stuart and his crew.

To find out more and book your place on one of this year’s tours, visit www.southernwater.co.uk/brighton-sewer-tours.

12/09/2014

There were no bum notes in the sewers when this group of musicians played in the pipes.

The group of aspiring composers journeyed under the streets of Brighton in search of sounds that represent the city.

The visit marked the start of a partnership between Southern Water and Brighton Early Music Festival and is part of Watercycle, a music education project that takes its inspiration from water.

08/08/2014

Have you been on our Fantastic Voyage yet? Take a trip down the loo and into the sewers!

Welcome aboard intrepid travellers! Prepare to enter an underground world full of surprises on a trip down the toilet and into the sewers. Are you a pain in ...

07/08/2014

Are you following our sewer monster Bruce on Twitter? www.twitter.com/

04/08/2014

Southern Water’s Fat Detectives are on the hunt to flush out people who cause blockages by putting fat, oil and grease (FOG) in the sewers.

Steve Williams, Dave Burnett and Martyn Chandler, all former police officers, have swapped a life of crime for a life of grime to become Network Protection Officers with the water company.

Their job is to ensure that Southern Water’s commercial customers, such as restaurants and takeaways, understand the problems caused by FOG in the sewers and install and maintain grease traps to prevent it from getting into the pipes.

Cooking oils and fats solidify as they cool, causing blockages in customers’ pipes and the sewers which can lead to wastewater flooding into streets, gardens and homes.

In the first half of this year, there were almost 4,500 FOG-related blockages across the Southern Water region.

Visit www.southernwater.co.uk/paininthedrain for more information.

12/05/2014

Ida Barr goes underneath the arches – and into the sewers

Victorian music hall star Ida Barr has discovered a hidden metropolis beneath Brighton where she feels truly at home – the Victorian sewers.

12/02/2014

07/02/2014

NEW Brighton sewer tour dates are available for 2014.

Tours run from May to September. To find out more about the tours and how to book visit: www.southernwater.co.uk/sewertours

Our Brighton sewer tours have been revealing Victorian secrets for more than 50 years.

31/01/2014

Switch over to BBC Two tonight at 18:30 to watch Great British Railway Journeys with Michael Portillo. Michael visits Brighton where he discovers our famous Victorian sewers

Michael Portillo discovers the history behind the extraordinary Pavilion at Brighton.

17/12/2013

Sing along with Jingle Bells - our Christmas carol warning of the perils of pouring festive fats down sinks and flushing wet wipes down toilets.

Traditionally, yuletide songs are sung around a sparkling Christmas tree or a roaring log fire -- not a sewer. But Southern Water staff were happy to teeter ...

13/09/2013

A resourceful group of air cadets were set a challenge by Southern Water – demonstrate how strong wet wipes are by pulling a plane with them.

The cadets, from 1440 (Shoreham-by-Sea) Squadron of the ...Air Training Corps, set to work to make a rope out of ordinary household wipes and use it to pull the half-ton Luscombe aircraft.

They were keen to demonstrate that wipes are a pain in the drain if flushed down the loo as they cause blockages, flooding and pollutions.

The rope, just one centimetre wide, was made without using knots to replicate the way wipes get tangled up in customers’ pipes and the public sewer.

Along with solidified cooking oils, wet wipes contribute to about three quarters of all sewer blockages and should be put in the bin.

A resourceful group of air cadets was set a challenge by Southern Water - demonstrate the strength of wet wipes by pulling a plane with them. The cadets, fro...

09/05/2013

ITV presenter Fred Dinenage delved beneath Brighton’s streets to visit Southern Water’s world famous sewer tours.

Fred visited the labyrinth hidden under the city which boasts 300 miles of brick-built sewers and a giant storm-water tunnel ...and said the tour was “fascinating”.

Fred, who is patron of asthma charity AWAAIRE, was also delighted to hear that Southern Water has pledged to donate £1 to the charity for every visitor to the Victorian sewer this summer.

You can watch footage of Fred’s tour here:
http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/story/2013-05-01/fred-has-gone-down-the-drain/