Water pipe ownership part 3

I did receive a reply to my reminder regarding the transfer of the water pipes. Sadly though it was that sewerage companies already have rights to protect against building near such pipes.

Well yes building near a sewer requires permission from the owner; which previously was often the same as the owner of the land... not any more.

One small benefit was a link to Ofwat I didn't previously have which gives me the information that this is all being done

under the Water Industry Act 1991

and indeed checking on that and digging up the point about adoption of sewers

102 Subject to the following provisions of this section and to sections 103, 105 and 146(3) below, a sewerage undertaker may at any time declare that—
(a)any sewer which is situated within its area or which serves the whole or any part of that area;F1...[F2
(aa)any lateral drain which communicates or is to communicate with a public sewer which—
(i)is so situated or serves the whole or any part of that area; and
(ii)is vested in that undertaker; or]
(b)any sewage disposal works which are so situated or which serve the whole or any part of that area,
shall, as from such date as may be specified in the declaration, become vested in the undertaker.

But that just pushes the question back one Act. The government do not own these pipes and therefore under existing legislation have no right to transfer ownership of them or indeed allow anyone else to claim ownership of them.

I now await another reply