cesspit worry

John_Pierpoint

daniel80 wrote: »

Hi John not sure about been built on an aquifer,why do you ask this. .

Just wondering why the property is stuck with a cesspit.
Where does the water from the roof go?

The most useful part of the HIP, I had to buy when selling a house in 2009, was the section all about the drains.

This web site gives some insight into the local arrangements, but I am just checking locally to see how accurate it is.

http://www.flushtracker.com/

Good up to date aerial photos in the background.

Have you checked the broadband line speeds?

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/broadband_availability

daniel80

The property is stuck with a cesspit because of the local regulations I am sure he said that a soak-away was not possible. As the rain water is clean this might go to ground, if it goes to the cesspit i am sure it wont take much to re route this even to water buts. Thats a good point about aquifers as there used to be a water plant about 100 yards away on the other side of the road which has now gone, perhaps underground.

phoebe1989seb

We're also rural in a Georgian stone-built three storey house and there is no gas supply to our village so the PO had an oil central heating system fitted in 2010.

I agree with Dave, oil isn't as expensive as you'd think. Our most recent top-up in September (908 L) cost £425 and this should last all Winter. We also have a massive woodburner in one of the reception rooms and what with this coupled with building our extremely well-insulated kitchen extension (where we now spend most of our time ) we don't have the heating on a great deal - haven't used it yet this Autumn/Winter

John_Pierpoint

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

The most useful part of the HIP, I had to buy when selling a house in 2009, was the section all about the drains.

This web site gives some insight into the local arrangements, but I am just checking locally to see how accurate it is.

http://www.flushtracker.com/

Good up to date aerial photos in the background.

I can confirm that the above application is not 100% accurate.
I have used the post code of my local pub and "its flush" has only just arrived at the sewage works.
My home is about 100 ft above sea level but the pub is probably only 50ft and I know its sewer goes down to a creek where a pumping station has to pump it up again and the pipe cuts the corner through some fields. The application assumes that the pipe follows the road - I am 99% sure it doesn't.

Anyway it has now travelled 10 miles & arrived about 0.25 of a mile away from what is self evidently in the photograph, a sewage works. (Perhaps that is where the public road ends? Though it has not always stuck to the roads and taken to the fields in several places on its journey).

You almost certainly won't be putting the rainwater into your tank - it will be going to a soakaway - It might be worth checking that the water bill does not include any sort of charge for surface water drainage - a lot of houses have this incorporated into their bills, because nobody has checked that they don't intermingle any surface water into their sewage.

daniel80

Yes you are right John the gutter water goes underground.

martindow

If you are in a rural area mains gas is often not available and your heating is likely to be oil, bottled gas or solid fuel. Oil where you can shop around is definitely superior to gas tanks where you are often tied to the supplier who fitted the tank which is a real racket.

For me there is a big difference between cess pits and septic tanks. Cess pits would put me off, septic tanks are a much better bet than mains drainage imo.

AdrianC

martindow wrote: »

If you are in a rural area mains gas is often not available and your heating is likely to be oil, bottled gas or solid fuel. Oil where you can shop around is definitely superior to gas tanks where you are often tied to the supplier who fitted the tank which is a real racket.

If you're on gas bottles, you can (AIUI) buy from anywhere.

If you're on a gas tank, you're tied to a contract - true - but that includes a price fix (I'm on 12mo fix), and it's a legal max 2yr contract. They do allow DD bill-spreading, too.

daniel80

`I`ve just played golf with a guy who I new was not on main drainage. He also has a cesspit which he only gets emptied no more than once a year, he said he pumps the waste out onto his garden. I don`t know if that`s legal. Anyone know.

Davesnave

daniel80 wrote: »

`I`ve just played golf with a guy who I new was not on main drainage. He also has a cesspit which he only gets emptied no more than once a year, he said he pumps the waste out onto his garden. I don`t know if that`s legal. Anyone know.

In the country, people tend not to ask, "Is it legal?" but rather "Can I get away with this?"

So, it depends how large your garden is, who and how far away your neighbours are, and because pumping sewage sludge isn't nice, who you know with the right equipment.

A farmer I know just pumps the contents of his tank into his slurry spreader and takes it to spread on a far-off field.

Similarly, my neighbours' septic tank run-outs both end right next to a stream.

The law is one thing, but historic practice of different kinds is another.

John_Pierpoint