My downstairs neighbour has found some standing water in the cellar (maybe a half inch or so). Upon further investigation, we found water in two places (right at the front, and right at the back), but the middle looks dry (the floor is really uneven, so there are definite high and low areas). We checked for pipes that may be dripping, but didn't find anything. We know there's a sewer under the house; there's a manhole cover in the cellar, as well as a breather. It's possible this may be overflowing, although it doesn't smell like it (the smell is definitely of mouldy damp, rather than sewerage).

After mopping up the water in a little dip at the front, we noticed that the water just reappears a few minutes later. This looks to me like it's rising up from under the floor, as opposed to dripping in there from somewhere above (does that sound likely?).

I suspect there's very little we can really do about this, but are there any steps he can take to stop this happening?

So far, the best I've come up with is to put palettes on the floor so his stuff is a few inches higher up and then put in an automatic pump or something. I guess that pump would need to be connected to the drains rather than trying to pump the water into the back yard though. Any other ideas (or experiences of this sort of thing) would be super helpful.

Thanks in advance!

Maybe a spring or a leak, I don't think you should ignore it, but you may need the services of an expert.

It may also pay to get the water supplier to take a sample.

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Thanks for the tip - He's called Thames Water who are going to take a look. He's also found that the underground River Effra may run somewhere nearby ;-)