Pump station servicing, drain clearance, grease traps and tank emptying for homes, estates and businesses across Burgess Hill and the villages around it.
Burgess Hill has grown a lot, and it’s still growing. Many of the newer estates around the town, and plenty of the business units on its industrial estates, depend on pump stations to move sewage into the main sewer. Some have been adopted by the water company; many are still the responsibility of a management company or the homeowners, and they need looking after.
The town sits on heavy Weald clay. Clay holds water, moves as it wets and dries, and doesn’t let water soak away easily, which is hard on old drains and harder still on soakaways and drainage fields. Out in the villages, from Twineham and Sayers Common to Wivelsfield and Ansty, there are still plenty of homes on septic tanks, cesspits and treatment plants, and clay ground is part of the reason they need careful looking after.
Burgess Hill is within easy reach of our yard in Copthorne and our office in Smallfield. Whether it’s an estate pump station, a grease trap in the town centre or a cesspit on a farm, you get the same crews and the same 24-hour cover, every day of the year.
When a pump station fails, sewage can back up within hours. The usual causes are worn pumps, floats tangled in rags, a tripped control panel or a build-up of fat in the wet well. We service domestic, estate and commercial pump stations, test the pumps, floats and high-level alarm, clean out the chamber and repair or replace control panels. We also work with management companies to set up regular servicing.
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Clay ground moves, and over the years that cracks pipes and pulls joints apart. When a drain keeps blocking, we clear it with high-pressure jetting and then survey it with a camera to find out why. You get a written report showing any cracks, displaced joints or root ingress, which is useful for landlords, managing agents and buyers alike.
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Restaurants, takeaways and staff canteens need their grease traps emptied before fat reaches the drains. On industrial estates we clean out oil interceptors, silt traps and car park gullies with jet/vac tankers that jet and vacuum in one visit. Every collection comes with a waste transfer note for your duty of care records.
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Beyond the town, many homes and farms are off the mains. We empty septic tanks and cesspits with tankers of 2,000 to 4,000 gallons, and service and repair treatment plants of all the common makes. On clay, a drainage field can struggle in winter, so we’ll let you know if yours looks like it isn’t coping.
Learn moreLocal knowledge
What the local ground and the town’s growth mean for your drains and tanks.
Weald clay drains slowly and shrinks and swells with the seasons. It’s tough on older pipes, and on soakaways and drainage fields, which is why percolation tests matter here.
Not every estate pump station has been adopted. If yours hasn’t, the owners are responsible for keeping it maintained, usually through a management company.
New connections put more demand on older drains. If a drain that used to be fine starts blocking, a camera survey will show whether it’s damaged or just overloaded.
Local to you
From the town centre and its industrial estates to farms across the Mid Sussex countryside, we cover Burgess Hill and the villages around it.
Burgess Hill · town and neighbourhoods
Surrounding villages · where septic tanks and cesspits are common
If you’re in or around Burgess Hill, the answer is almost certainly yes. Call with your postcode and we’ll confirm.
Why Burgess Hill customers use us
Whether it’s an estate pump station, a single septic tank near Twineham or a row of units on an industrial estate, here’s what you can expect.
Our tankers come from Copthorne and our office is in Smallfield, both within easy reach of the town.
SafeContractor, Achilles UVDB and RISQS approved, so we can get onto managed sites and meet your contractor checks.
Tankers from 2,000 to 4,000 gallons, jet/vac combination units, CCTV survey kit and confined space teams for pump station wet wells.
Our engineers and most of our tanker drivers hold current confined space entry certificates, and the engineers carry the most common parts.
A waste transfer note with every collection, and a written report after surveys and services.
Tanks, treatment plants, pump stations, grease traps and drains, all handled by one team.
Checkatrade
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Scores as of September 2026
★★★★★Clearmasters have been emptying and servicing our treatment plant for the last 7 years and their service and quality of work is of a high standard. I would highly recommend them.
Angus C. Google review
★★★★★Efficient, courteous, customer-facing. Would not hesitate to recommend to others.
★★★★★I've used Clearmasters for at least 10 years and always find them reliable, helpful, knowledgable and great at what is a really unpleasant job! I won't use anyone else.
How it works
The same simple process whether it’s a one-off blocked drain or a regular pump station service on an estate.
Step 1
Ring us or book online and tell us what you’ve got: a pump station, a tank, a grease trap or a blocked drain. For estates and businesses, let us know who we should speak to and how to get on site.
Step 2
We arrive with the right vehicle for the job, from a service van to a jet/vac unit. It helps if:
Step 3
You get a waste transfer note for anything we take away, and a written report after a survey or service. If it’s a regular job, we’ll remind you when the next one is due.
Free, no-obligation quote
One-off job or a service contract for an estate or business, tell us what you need and we’ll come back with a price. If an alarm is going off, call us now instead.
Questions answered
The questions we’re asked most often by homeowners, landlords and businesses in and around Burgess Hill.
It depends. Some have been adopted by the water company; others are still owned by the developer, a management company or the residents. Your deeds, your management company or the water company should be able to tell you. If it’s private, the owners are responsible for maintaining it, and we can set up regular servicing.
Most domestic and estate pump stations we look after are serviced every six or twelve months. Busier commercial stations, or ones that collect a lot of fat or rags, may need more frequent visits. A service is far cheaper than an emergency call-out when a pump fails.
Clay swells when it’s wet and shrinks when it dries out. Over the years that movement puts stress on pipes, especially older clay ones, and can crack them or pull the joints apart. A CCTV survey will show whether that’s happening to yours.
Sometimes, but it needs to be designed properly. Clay drains slowly, so a drainage field has to be larger, and in very heavy clay it may not be suitable at all. A percolation test tells you; see our drainage field page for how it works.
Yes. We empty septic tanks and cesspits across the villages around the town, and service treatment plants of all the common makes.
Our yard is in Copthorne and our office in Smallfield, both within easy reach. For emergencies, call 03333 233566 and we’ll tell you when we can be there. Routine work is booked in at a time that suits you.
Got a different question? Call 03333 233566 or send us a message.
We're independently vetted and certified so you can trust who you're letting onto your site.
Health & safety pre-qualification accreditation, verifying our processes meet recognised safety standards.
Railway Industry Supplier Qualification Scheme — approved to work safely within the rail industry supply chain.
Utilities Vetting Database membership, confirming we meet the utilities sector's supply chain standards.
Vetted and approved under the local authority's trusted trader scheme for honesty and fair dealing.
Members of the National Association of Drainage Contractors, the UK trade body for the drainage industry.
Registered with the Environment Agency, so your waste is handled and disposed of fully within the law.
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