Tanker Services London
Vacuum tanker hire, Jet-Vac drain jetting, cesspit and septic tank emptying across all 32 London boroughs.
60-minute emergency response across zones 1-3. Licensed upper-tier waste carrier. Waste transfer note on every job. Fixed quote before work begins.
07456 975436Our tanker services cover every liquid-waste job in London: cesspit and septic tank emptying, Jet-Vac drain jetting on main sewers, grease trap cleaning for commercial kitchens, flood-water extraction, and scheduled industrial drain maintenance. Tankers from 2,000 to 18,000 litres, 24/7 emergency dispatch, and a duty-of-care waste transfer note on every single visit.
When you need a tanker
A tanker is the right tool whenever a blockage, overflow or flood is beyond what a hand-rod or wet-vac can fix. The seven scenarios below cover the vast majority of calls we take across London — from domestic cesspit overflows in the home counties fringe to West End grease traps and Canary Wharf plant rooms. If your situation is not listed, call and we will advise whether a tanker or a different service (for example a straight blocked drains callout) is the better fit.
Cesspit or septic tank overflow
When a cesspit reaches capacity or the outlet to a soakaway collapses, raw sewage can back up through the nearest gully, toilet or even the kitchen sink. This is a public health issue and a notifiable environmental incident if it reaches a watercourse. A high-capacity vacuum tanker lifts the full contents (typically 10,000 to 18,000 litres) in a single visit, then we inspect the tank fabric, inlet baffle and outlet for the failure that caused the overflow. We issue a waste transfer note on site so the homeowner has the duty-of-care paperwork the Environment Agency requires.
Blocked main sewer or shared drain
Main sewer blockages on Victorian 100mm and 150mm clay runs are rarely cleared by a rodding kit alone. Fat deposits, tree roots and collapsed sections need a Jet-Vac unit: the jetter scours the pipe wall with a 3,000 to 4,000 psi nozzle while the vacuum simultaneously removes the displaced debris so nothing settles further downstream. For shared drains serving flats or terraces, we co-ordinate access with neighbouring properties and Thames Water where the blockage sits beyond the property boundary.
Grease trap emergency (commercial kitchens)
Restaurants, pubs and hotels in the West End, Shoreditch and Canary Wharf run grease traps that must be emptied on a schedule set by the local authority. When a trap is missed or under-sized for the covers served, the fat goes straight into the drainage system and creates a solidified plug within days. We attend out-of-hours (after service, typically 23:00 to 05:00) to empty the trap, jet the outflow line, and provide the compliance documentation required by Environmental Health.
Flood-water extraction
After a burst main, a failed sump pump, or surface flooding from a heavy downpour, a vacuum tanker removes standing water from basements, lift pits, car parks and plant rooms far faster than pumps alone. A 3,000-gallon tanker empties a flooded domestic basement in 15 to 30 minutes. Speed matters: every extra hour of standing water extends the drying window, increases the chance of electrical damage, and raises the insurance claim value.
Deep drain cleaning and preventative jetting
Offices, estates, care homes and managed blocks benefit from scheduled Jet-Vac cleaning of the full surface-water and foul-water network. We typically jet each line end-to-end, lift the silt and detritus into the tanker, and follow up with a CCTV survey to confirm the pipe is clear and structurally sound. Booked as a planned maintenance visit, this prevents the emergency callouts that happen when autumn leaves and summer fat build-up finally close a line.
Industrial and plant-room drainage
Factories, laundries, data centres and food-production sites run interceptors, balancing tanks, petrol separators and cooling-tower sumps that need specialist tanker work. Our operators hold the relevant confined-space, IPAF and waste-handling tickets. We carry the documentation for trade-effluent discharge and co-ordinate with Thames Water's Trade Effluent team where consented discharges are involved.
Construction site dewatering
Basement digs, piling works and deep excavations across London often hit ground water below the Thames Terrace Gravels. A tanker removes silt-laden water that would otherwise clog a pump filter, and we dispose of it under a valid waste transfer note so the principal contractor stays compliant with the site waste management plan. We run same-day and overnight bookings to fit the site programme.
Our tanker services
A single fleet covers the full spread of London tanker work. Where a job starts as one thing (a blocked drain) and turns out to need another (root cutting, pipe relining), we handle it end-to-end. See also our related root cutting and drain relining work, which often follows a Jet-Vac visit where the CCTV survey shows structural damage.
Vacuum tanker hire
Hire a vacuum tanker with operator for any liquid-waste task across London. Tanker sizes from 2,000 to 18,000 litres. Typical use cases are cesspit emptying, interceptor cleaning, flood-water lift, and bulk waste removal from building sites. Fixed hourly or job-priced, with a waste transfer note issued before we leave site.
Jet-Vac tanker (combined jetter and vacuum)
A Jet-Vac combines a high-pressure water jetter (up to 4,000 psi at 80 litres per minute) with a vacuum intake. The jetter breaks blockages, cuts roots and scours the pipe wall; the vacuum lifts the displaced material in the same pass. This is the correct tool for 150mm-plus sewers, long lateral runs and anything where rodding has failed.
Cesspit emptying
Cesspits are sealed tanks with no outlet and must be emptied on a regular schedule, typically every 6 to 12 weeks depending on household size. We arrive with sufficient tanker capacity to lift the full contents in one visit, check the inlet and vent, and leave a waste transfer note. Typical cesspit empty takes 30 to 60 minutes on site.
Septic tank pumping
Septic tanks need de-sludging annually to keep the biological treatment layer working and to prevent solids carrying over to the soakaway. We remove the sludge layer, inspect the baffles and T-pipe, jet the outlet if required, and leave the tank partially refilled so the bacterial ecosystem recovers quickly.
Grease trap cleaning
Full emptying of under-sink and external grease traps for commercial kitchens. We remove the fats, oils and grease (FOG) layer, scrape the walls, jet the outflow, and issue a FOG waste consignment note. Booked on 4-, 6- or 12-weekly cycles, or as an emergency one-off when a trap has failed.
Main sewer jetting
High-volume jetting of blocked main sewers up to 600mm diameter. We use descaling, root-cutting and pipe-scouring heads as appropriate, with the tanker vacuum removing debris in the same pass. For persistent failures, we follow up with a CCTV survey (see our CCTV drain survey service) so the root cause is identified and recorded.
Industrial drain maintenance
Scheduled tanker visits for factories, warehouses, logistics depots and food-production sites. Covers interceptors, separators, sumps, attenuation tanks and trade-effluent lines. We supply a planned maintenance schedule, full reporting, and the trade-effluent paperwork required by the receiving water company.
Emergency sewage removal
Out-of-hours callout for foul-water incidents: flooded basements, back-surge from mains, failed lift-station pumps, and overflowing cesspits. Target response 60 minutes across zones 1-3, 90 minutes to outer London. The tanker and a two-person crew attend together so the lift starts on arrival.
Licensed liquid-waste transport
All removed waste is transported by a registered upper-tier waste carrier to a permitted disposal site. We hold the Environment Agency waste carrier licence and issue a duty-of-care waste transfer note on every job. Clients in regulated sectors (healthcare, food, hospitality) receive copies of disposal manifests for their audit file.
Areas we cover — tanker services across London
Every London borough has its own drainage quirks. Victorian clay sewers in the inner boroughs, mews-access tankers for the west, commercial grease-trap density in the City and Canary Wharf. The borough notes below explain what we see most often in each area, but the short version is this: a tanker and crew is on shift every day, and we dispatch to all 32 boroughs. For borough-specific general plumbing, see our Hackney plumbing page and Westminster plumbing page.
Tanker services Hackney
Hackney's housing stock is dominated by Victorian terraces in De Beauvoir, Hackney Central and Stoke Newington, plus the estate blocks around Homerton and Hoxton. The shared 100mm to 150mm clay sewers under these streets are the single biggest source of our tanker callouts in E8 and N1 — tree roots from the mature plane trees, fat from the high density of takeaways along Kingsland Road and Mare Street, and collapsed sections in pre-war runs. For Broadway Market, Columbia Road and the Dalston restaurant strip we run out-of-hours grease-trap cleaning. Response target is 60 minutes from the time of call. We attend everything from a domestic rear-garden gully backup in Victoria Park to a fully-flooded basement plant room in a Hackney Wick commercial conversion.
Tanker services Westminster
Westminster is the densest commercial tanker catchment in London. The concentration of restaurants, hotels, clubs and government buildings from Victoria through Mayfair, Soho and Marylebone means grease trap work is more or less continuous. Listed-building constraints, conservation-area parking restrictions and night-time noise limits shape how we operate: we book overnight slots for grease trap emptying off Shaftesbury Avenue and Piccadilly, and we run small-access tankers for the narrow mews off Park Lane. For the residential side — the mansion blocks of Pimlico and Bayswater, and the listed Georgian stock of Belgravia — we handle basement flood extraction and cesspit-style septic tanks on the fringes near Hyde Park. Response target 60 minutes, 24/7.
Tanker services Southwark
Southwark combines the riverside commercial stretch from London Bridge through Borough Market and Bankside with residential Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, Peckham and Camberwell. The Borough Market food traders and the London Bridge hotel and restaurant cluster generate a high volume of grease trap and FOG-waste tanker work. Further south, the Victorian terrace stock in Camberwell and Peckham shares the same Victorian clay sewer problems as Hackney — roots, fat and collapsed junctions on shared drains between terraces. We attend flooded basement flats in the newer riverside developments on a regular basis after heavy rain, where sump pumps on the combined system fail or the surface-water drain backs up. Same 60-minute target response; tanker and Jet-Vac on shift 24/7.
Tanker services Wandsworth
Wandsworth covers a wide spread: the high-density flats and townhouses of Battersea and Clapham, the wealthier terraces of Wandsworth Town, Putney and Southfields, and the commercial arches along Nine Elms. The Battersea Power Station regeneration, the riverside blocks either side of Chelsea Bridge, and the older Victorian semis in Southfields all bring different tanker jobs — from interceptor cleaning for the commercial arches to cesspit-style septic tanks on the fringes near Wimbledon Common. Surface-water flooding along the Wandle and after heavy rain on the combined sewer system drives seasonal demand. We run tanker and Jet-Vac crews covering SW11, SW15, SW17 and SW18 with a 60 to 90-minute target response depending on bridge traffic.
Tanker services Kensington and Chelsea
Kensington and Chelsea is stucco-fronted Georgian and Victorian stock, mews conversions, and dense embassy and hotel corridors. Basement extensions are everywhere — almost every tanker callout to Holland Park, Notting Hill or South Kensington involves a below-ground pump chamber or a flooded lift pit. Listed-building consent and conservation-area rules affect how we work: slimline tankers for the mews of Chelsea and Kensington, scheduled overnight lifts for the restaurant strips of the King's Road and Kensington High Street, and quiet-running Jet-Vac units where residential noise limits apply after 22:00. We attend cesspit emptying on the few fringe properties still on private drainage, grease trap work for the hotel and restaurant trade, and basement flood extraction after sump-pump failures in the new-build mews developments.
Tanker services Haringey
Haringey runs from the Victorian stock of Crouch End and Muswell Hill through the denser terraces of Hornsey, Wood Green and Tottenham. The high tree coverage in Crouch End and Highgate means a lot of root-ingress jetting work on the 100mm to 150mm clay sewers under the front gardens. The commercial density along Green Lanes and Turnpike Lane generates grease-trap and interceptor calls. Tottenham's older terrace stock shares the Victorian sewer issues common across inner-north London. Response target 60 to 90 minutes across N4, N8, N15, N17 and N22; we run tanker and Jet-Vac shifts overnight for commercial kitchens and out-of-hours domestic emergencies.
All 32 London boroughs covered
Beyond the boroughs above, we run tanker services across every London borough: Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, City of London, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. Same 24/7 dispatch, same licensed waste carrier paperwork, same fixed quote before the work starts.
Cost guide — London tanker prices (2026)
The prices below are honest ranges based on the jobs we actually do. The bottom of each range is for straightforward work during daytime hours on accessible sites. The top of the range covers out-of-hours, difficult access, large-volume jobs, or multi-stage work that involves a CCTV survey or follow-up jetting. We confirm the fixed price on arrival after sighting the tank or drain — there are no hidden fuel, disposal or paperwork charges.
| Service | Typical Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cesspit emptying (domestic) | £200–£400 | Up to 10,000 litres, 30–60 min on site |
| Septic tank empty (annual de-sludge) | £250–£450 | Includes baffle check + waste transfer note |
| Drain Jet-Vac (main sewer) | £300–£600 | Per hour on site, blockage clearance + debris removal |
| Grease trap clean (commercial) | £200–£500 | Per visit, FOG consignment note issued |
| Emergency tanker callout (out of hours) | £400–£800 | 60–90 min response, London-wide |
| Industrial / large-volume tanker | £500–£1,500 | Interceptors, plant rooms, 18,000-litre capacity |
Prices are London ranges for 2026. VAT not included. Fixed quote confirmed on site before work begins. Duty-of-care waste transfer note issued on every job.
What to expect when you call
A tanker callout has six phases from phone call to paperwork. Knowing what happens at each stage lets you plan access, service continuity and payment. If the job turns out to be a straight domestic plumbing issue rather than a tanker job, we will say so on the phone and redirect you to the right service — typically our emergency plumber London team.
Call 07456 975436
A dispatcher takes the details: property type, tank or drain location, access constraints, and whether this is a planned booking or an emergency. You get a firm arrival window before the call ends.
Tanker dispatched
We select the correct unit for the job — 3,000-gallon vacuum tanker, Jet-Vac combination unit, or small-access tanker for mews and narrow streets. The crew is briefed in transit with the access notes.
On site within the quoted window
Crew arrives in branded PPE with vehicle paperwork and risk assessment. For commercial sites, we sign in at reception and follow the client's site rules before starting work.
Assess and confirm price
The operator checks the tank level, drain length or flood depth and confirms the fixed price. If the job turns out to need a follow-up (for example, a CCTV survey after a root blockage), we quote that separately before proceeding.
Tanker lift or jetting carried out
Cesspit or septic tank emptied, main sewer jetted, or flood water extracted. On commercial sites we work around service hours where possible and minimise noise between 22:00 and 07:00.
Waste transfer note issued
Before leaving site we issue the duty-of-care waste transfer note listing the waste type, quantity, EWC code and destination disposal site. Copies are emailed the same day for your records.
Why choose Emergency Repairs London for tanker work
Tanker work is not commodity plumbing. You are paying for the right-sized vehicle arriving on time, a crew with the tickets to operate it safely, and paperwork that stands up to an Environment Agency audit. Our approach to those three things is below. For planned maintenance across a property portfolio, see our PPM contracts page, which covers scheduled tanker visits alongside boiler and drain servicing.
24/7 genuine response
A tanker and crew on shift every night, including bank holidays. The phone is answered by a dispatcher, not a call centre.
Same-hour arrival on emergencies
Target 60 minutes across zones 1-3 (Westminster, Kensington, Hackney, Southwark, Wandsworth) and 90 minutes to outer London.
Licensed upper-tier waste carrier
Registered with the Environment Agency for liquid-waste transport. All disposal at permitted sites only.
Duty-of-care paperwork on every job
Waste transfer notes issued on site. Copies emailed for your records, matching the Environment Agency's duty-of-care requirements.
Fixed quote before work starts
Operator confirms the price on arrival after sighting the tank or drain. No mid-job surprises, no hidden fuel or disposal charges.
Checkatrade rated, fully insured
£10m public liability, £10m employer's liability. Checkatrade verified trader with verified homeowner reviews.
Frequently asked questions
Short, specific answers to the questions we hear most often on the phone. If your situation is not covered below, call on 07456 975436 and the dispatcher will walk you through it. For related drain and sewer guidance see our articles on how to unblock a drain and diagnosing a sewage smell in the house.
What is a Jet-Vac tanker?
How much does a vacuum tanker cost in London?
Do you empty cesspits and septic tanks?
How quickly can you get a tanker to us?
Do you cover commercial and industrial properties?
What's included in the tanker service?
Do you provide a waste transfer note?
Can you empty tanks with difficult access?
What size tanker do you send?
Do you operate at night and weekends?
Need a tanker now?
24/7 dispatch across every London borough. Target 60 minutes to zones 1-3 and 90 minutes to outer London.
Fixed quote on arrival. Duty-of-care waste transfer note on every job. Licensed upper-tier waste carrier.
Call now: 07456 975436Landline: 0207 046 1363 · 70 Gracechurch Street, London EC3V 0HR