Septic tank emptying after short tenancy...

moonlitshadow

Hello All,

We're about to move out of a property after a short term 6 month AST, which has a clause about ensuring septic tank is emptied on departure.

We have no idea of the size of the tank - I just had a quote from a company that advised it shouldn't be larger than 800 gallons for the number of bedrooms (3), so I'm going on that. I see that this size of tank should only need emptying once a year at the very maximum (this is what the internet tells me!); what do would you do about fulfilling this clause? The polite part of me says we should get it done, but £185 (the quote I have) to empty a tank that is no way full seems expensive...the LL mentioned that they had the tank emptied last year (this would have been 2011), so there has been another tenant in between that last emptying and us living here. We don't really want to be paying for someone else's 'doings'! Would it be reasonable to offer to pay a share of the emptying? What would you do, has anyone had any experience of this sort of situation? Help please

Many thanks!

tbs624

If LL wants you to pay for the tank to be empty when you leave the property then he ought to be able to show that it was empty at the start of your tenancy. Perhaps the previous T did pay for it to be done at the end of their six months?

In your place if the LL has no proof of it [edit:being] emptied at the start then I'd negotiate

sandsni

I would have thought, if a septic tank is doing its job properly, it shouldn't need emptied after just 6 months, but I suppose it depends on how much is getting flushed every day lol. I know my parents and I only have to get ours emptied about every 3 years (I live next door to my parents and both households' waste goes into it), but I'm not sure what capacity it is. Unfortunately many of the modern toilet cleaning chemicals kill off the bacteria and prevent the septic tank working efficiently. Could you negotiate to pay 50% since, as you say, the general consensus is that it should only need emptied, at most, once a year?

moonlitshadow

Thanks for the replies. We've had no proof of it being empty at the start of the tenancy so have no idea of how full or empty it is now...my main concern is that we pay the minimum fee of £185 to remove a miniscule amount of waste, seems a, uhem, waste!

Strapped

I'd guess that the LL has this clause as he has no means of controlling how much goes into the tank. It seems fair enough to me if you agreed to it when you moved in.

rosyw

£185 seems an awful lot to pay to get a septic tank emptied! I used to pay £60 at my last place, which I left 18 months ago, so suggest it may be worth while getting another quote.

G_M

Unless the landlord can prove (eg via the inventory description you signed) that the tank was empty at the start I don't think he can insist you empty it.

And 6 monthly is mad! It;'s not a cess pit! It'sa septic tank. How many people use it? Every year or two..... maybe.

solventblackbird

It's actually bad for tanks to get emptied out so often - when they are working properly and the people who use them aren't flushing lots of bleach and tampons etc down the toilet, then some tanks can go 10 years without being emptied.

Having said that, that isn't your problem and if he wants to wreck his bacterial balance by having the tank emptied every six months, that's up to him. I think if you signed the contract, you need to pay it.

Shop around for a quote, though - some places will do it for 80 quid and if you're in a rural area, there's probably a farmer with a slurry tanker that could do it for you.

Hatrick24

I would agree with some of the other replies, our septic tank costs £85 to empty and we are in the South East. We do however, have it emptied every six months as this is what was recommended.

sandsni

Also, check with your local council or water company - in Northern Ireland the water service offer one free septic tank emptying per 12 months (but water services are included in our Rates so I'm not sure what would apply where you are). Is it possible whoever is responsible for sewage systems in your area might offer a reduced rate for emptying septic tanks?

solventblackbird

Who was it who recommended it? Perhaps the person you're paying to pump it out?

The way a septic tank works is that almost all of what gets put down the toilet or plug hole is digested by bacteria and turns into greyish water that soaks into the ground around the tank. There's a very small proportion of indigestible matter that sinks to the bottom and a larger proportion of grease and oil that floats to the top and forms a crust. Working, healthy septic tanks always look full - they are - of water - it's just the sludge at the bottom that needs emptying now and again. If you don't put bleach down it, it can last ten or twenty years. Not recommended, but perfectly possible.