Idiot's guide to cess pits/ soak aways needed!

angel_eyes_3

Hi, I hope someone can point me in the right direction.

We have just had an offer accepted on a house which has a cess pit and soak away. Having always lived in houses connected to mains sewage this is completely new to me. I've been researching them on the internet and found some do's and don't for using them but need some thing a bit more basic. The house is empty, old chap who lived there has since passed on and house being sold by children who live miles away, so difficult to ask questions.

The following are some of the questions I'm not sure about but I'm sure there will be many more. The house has a longish back garden, with the cesspit located halfway down, then I assume the soak away is at the bottom of the garden. We have 2 small children, are they alright playing at the bottom of the garden on top of the soak away or will the land be very soaky? (garden very overgrown so difficult to tell). What safety precautions should be followed? There are fruit trees near the bottom of the garden, is there any reason, if they do produce friut, why it shouldn't be eaten? Can I put a vegetable patch down there? What questions should I be asking my solicitor/ the estate agent about it?

If anyone knows of any good, basic websites or books, or can answer these questions, I'd be very grateful.

Thank you in advance

paddy's_mum

angel eyes - stop panicking! A properly constructed system will be very unlikely to give you problems of any kind and certainly does not represent a health risk to your children, your garden nor anything grown there.

It is almost certain that other neighbouring properties are also on private drainage - do you know whether your system is a cess-pit or a septic tank - they are slightly different in the way that they need to be managed.

Why not go and have a polite word with a neighbour or two of the property you are interested in. Perhaps ask who they normally use to empty/maintain their systems and give that person a quick call for a general indication of how private draingage in that area is coping, what they charge and what kindred services they can offer you.

In my experience, there are two major questions that you should be asking of the emptier. Are the soakaways failing (uncommon, fixable but it can happen) and are there any long term plans by the area's water authority to install mains sewerage in the forseeable future.

Hope that helps and as someone living in an area where the nearest sewer pipe is well over a mile away, and each of several hundred houses are on private drainage, if I can reassure you further, please just ask.

angel_eyes_3

Thanks Paddy's Mum,

It is a septic tank (not cess pit - I'm still learning!). According to the estate agent all the houses on this road have one, and the council comes along once a year to empty them (I can't remember how much he said it cost but under £100).

Everything I've read seems to be positive but I guess it's fear of the unknown! The estate agent seems to think it's a fairly new tank but I wasn't sure what else to ask him about it.

I'll give the council a ring and check that they still do empty them, current cost and any plans for connecting to mains sewerage.

Thanks again

paprichaat

Hi,

We were in the same position as you 18 months ago and have learned a lot since. First off, working tanks and soak-aways are fine, there is no health risk since what actually soaks away is very well filtered and almost "clean" thanks to the bacterial crust that forms in the tank. However the crust builds up over time and if you empty the tank completely you destroy the crust and this can cause bad odours until the crust reforms (how long depends on season, but can be 6-9 months).

The clay pipes that form the soak away are perforated to spread the fluid away from the tank...they can break if you take a heavy digger across them..so be careful and knowing where they go is useful.

ChasingButterflies

Hi there,

We found ourselves in the same position a couple of years ago - there is a lot of conflicting advice out there i.e. wheather or not you should have it emptied etc...

It is your local water company that would empty the tank I belive not the council. You can get specialist waste companies who will charge you a fortune for the same service!

The basis that a septic tank works on is the water falling through different chambers and also the bacteria braking down any waste.

So the use of bleach is not recommended as it will kill the bacteria you need. I have 3 little people too and they use kandoos - I phoned up papmers and "kandoo wipes degrade at the same rate as toilet paper" can't understand it - but they said it! Everyone else says "NO!" however they can all count - and no more than 3 is the rule!

As is the case with mains waste there are lots of thing that people shouldn't put down but do... a little thought is all that is required

Someone mentioned that I shouldn't use powder i.e. in dishwasher and washing machine - only use dishwasher tablets and liquid in the WM no problems caused by that.

I'll give the council a ring and check that they still do empty them, current cost and any plans for connecting to mains sewerage.

Why?! It is fine! not a problem - especially as you get a reduction in your council tax (actually not entirely sure about anywhere else - north of the border you get council tax, mains water and mains sewerage all charge induvidually so we don't get charged for mains sewerage;) )

Enjoy your new home

david29dpo

i love my septic tank! £89 a year to empty it. no mains sewerage charges, only a small standing charge for mains water and a £20 per quarter water bill. no mains sewerage for me!

paddy's_mum

If it helps to clarify what should and should not go into a septic tank:-

No chlorine bleach, enzyme product nor biological w/m or d/w products. It matters not whether powder or liquid - it is the enzymes that either kill or slow down the waste-digesting bacteria.

Nothing thicker than kitchen paper roll. Wipes and j-cloth type fabrics take a long time to decompose and can help to create a blockage in the pipes taking waste to the tank.

On a personal front, no condoms or thick sanitary products. The better quality tampons and pads seem not to cause major problems to any of my younger female neighbours. Basically, avoid anything that has a good ability to block a pipe.

There is indeed a considerable saving on the water rates - in our case, £80 a year and as our tank is operating very successfully, it hasn't needed to be emptied in 30 years. Now that's what I call monesaving!

You might be wise to ask that part of the purchase conditions is that the family pay to have the tank fully emptied before you take possession, and at their cost. If it were a tenancy in this area, that would be a condition of leaving a property at the end of the tenancy. If you can arrange it, be there when the tanker driver does the empty, slip him a fiver for a beer and ask his advice on the state of the tank and on maintaining the system effectively.

I would though repeat my advice that you speak to a couple of the neighbours and check that the soakaways are functioning well in that area. Some soils are less able to absorb than others and it is both infuriating and hard work to have to dig and create a second soakaway if the first one fails.

Other than those sensible precautions, you really have little to worry about. Good luck with it.

martindow

My local council did not deal with emptying the tank but I was recommended reliable people by the water company. About 80 pounds a time. Unless the tank is small or you are a big household I would not think it would need emptying more often than every two years.

angel_eyes_3

Thank you to everyone who has replied. I feel alot more reassured.

I spoke to the local council we'll be moving to today. Gentleman I spoke to was very helpful, knew the road the instant I mentioned it's name. They used to empty septic tanks but the service stopped in March of this year (he said for a variety of reasons but didn't go into them). There is a public sewer on the road, because it's on a hill the houses on one side (above the sewer) are connected and the houses on the other side of the road (below the sewer, side we're buying on) are not (traditionally they have always had their tanks). He said there were no known problems with drainage, but obviously I will check this with the neighbours.

He had a list of 3 companies which will come and empty the tank, and 2 companies which supply new ones, do maintance and I can ring for advice. I have also checked the local water company (Severn Trent) and it looks like they also provide an emptying service.

We had the offer accepted on the house on Monday, so I'm sure I'll have more questions once the survey is back.

If you can think of anything else I'll need to know, I'll be grateful.

Many thanks

ladybug73

:ohi was wondering if anyone can help me we have just bought a very very old welsh cottage and there is a very old cess pit in the woods, does anyone know how i go about getting planning to move this cess pit to create another one nearer to my property? i cant find any info on the internet about cess pits its crazy!!!
i need to know by law is it ok to start a new one and how far away does it need to be from my property and the farm land next to me....any information would be very useful as were newies at this sort of thing!!! thanks for reading email me if you can pamela the cess pit worrier!!!

ormus

A Cesspool is a sealed underground tank where all the sewage from a property is stored. The Cesspool when full, at approximately monthly intervals, will need emptying by a tanker contractor, and must therefore have adequate capacity. Approval to construct a cesspool is required from the Local Authority under the Building Regulations.