No mains drainage...

questionss

Just been to see a house/project I am in danger of falling in love with!

It has also raised issues that may be issues in other houses I'm going to see as we are looking in semi rural areas.

First it has no gas just an oil tank - annoying but not scary.

Second it has a cesspit which is a bit more terrifying! It's a very old system. It has a separate pump to get rid of fluid and then it is visited once or twice a year for emptying.
What do I need to be thinking about/asking
O mentioned that he'd been advised to leave the water pump as worked well.
I also mentioned a developer had talked about installing a biofilter to modernise.

Should I be running a mile?

moneyistooshorttomention

Davesnave is the poster most likely to know that position on that one....and I expect he'll be along shortly and will have some thoughts on that one.

G_M

Oil is fine - you get used to it. It is generally a bit more expensive than gas, though it nearly halved in price in the last 6 months so is now cheaper.

Is it a big tank? Bigger the better! Mine is 2500 litres and I fill it once a year, but have the option to top it up in between if the price of oil falls. With a small tank you have less flxibility and basically have to fill it when it gets low whatever the price of oil at the time.

Cess pit or septic tank? BIG difference!

Sounds a bit half and half! Liquids are pumped off to ... a run off/field? and solids left to biodegrade. But then should not need emptying more than once every year or 3.

Though a cesspit usually needs emptying every month or two. Maybe less often if you are pumping off the liqids.

My advice is
a) don't be put off but
b) DO fnd out exactly what it is and how it works
c) possibly get it checked (just as you'd check the electrics, boiler, roof etc). A normal surveyor probably won't do this, so ask!

Remember you save on water company costs!

AdrianC

Firstly, you're SURE it's a cesspit - where ALL water goes in, and stays in until removed? That's very unusual, although the pump arrangement does suggest it.

Far more common is a septic tank - where everything goes in, then gets digested by little bacterial beasties, and clean water slowly filters out into the surrounding ground.

If it IS a cesspit, then I'd be paying a chunk less than an equivalent place with a septic tank, and I'd be looking to get it upgraded in the near future.

Oil vs gas - even where there's no mains gas, you can get bulk LPG tanks installed, and gas boiler/cooking. Cost is similar to oil, I believe, but there are the usual range of pros and cons either way.

G_M

AdrianC wrote: »

Oil vs gas - even where there's no mains gas, you can get bulk LPG tanks installed, and gas boiler/cooking. Cost is similar to oil, I believe, but there are the usual range of pros and cons either way.

NOOooo!

LPG has one benefit: you can use a gas cooker if you are hooked on that. But electric ones these days are just as good (I'm a convert!), and oil Agas are good (if you like Agas).

But LPG is much more expensive than oil, and ties you in to a single supplier - no shopping around.

Elsewhere

We moved from town with gas, mains drains etc to a country house with oil heating and a septic tank 30 years ago - it's been fine.

I'd be rather dubious about a cess pit, though (if that's what it is) and to replace it with a new septic tank would be expensive (£20,000? and probably needs planning permission).

Septic tank drawbacks -

you say "semi-rural" - if you have near neighbours with septic tanks it can cause drainage problems - look for soggy patches in your garden downhill from the neighbours

you need to be a little careful about what you put down the drain or you'll kill the bugs that make it work; if you're the sort of person that gets through a gallon of bleach a week, for instamce...

However, there's no smell if a septic tank is working OK and it's cheaper to run than mains drains.

Oil heating drawbacks -

needs servicing more often than gas, but that could be because our boiler is quite old.

We cook on an oil-fired Aga in the winter, but it makes the kitchen stifling hot in summer, so we turn it off (we have an electric stove too)

Your oil might get stolen.

Advantages - can shop around for cheap oil and buy when the price is good and you don't get a nasty shock at the end of the winter from your gas bill because your fuel is already paid for.

questionss

Thanks all

The oil is less than ideal but we're less worried about that.

Will obviously ask a lot of questions re the cesspit if it is indeed a cesspit. The owner (son of deceased o) called it a cesspit, said it needed yearly emptying but also said liquid was pumped from the top of the waste onto fields behind... They had a separate pump box near the manhole for the pit.

Freecall

G_M wrote: »

Oil is fine - you get used to it. It is generally a bit more expensive than gas, though it nearly halved in price in the last 6 months so is now cheaper.

Really, where do you buy your oil (kerosene)?


http://www.nottenergy.com/energy_cost_comparison

Davesnave

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Davesnave is the poster most likely to know that position on that one....and I expect he'll be along shortly and will have some thoughts on that one.

I am late, hence I can cheerfully say I agree with GM regarding the septic tank/cesspit!

The only thing I'd add is to find out where exactly the fluids go, and if it's not on the property's land, whether there's a formal agreement relating to this. If there isn't, then it'll probably have a prescriptive easement through long use, but re-routing might be an issue, should that be needed.

Also, is it well clear of any watercourse? I have an outflow on my land where the owner is blissfully unaware of potential problems, because there is literally nowhere for an alternative route that would be 7 metres from the stream. (Essential for new work since 2010.)

Regarding gas, if you want a hob, it's still easy enough to buy gas in cylinders, which for me run for around a year(19kg.) I think even an oven would be OK, just not central heating on those.

Some houses might have wood burning stoves. They are fine, provided you don't mind lugging the fuel about and, even more important, that you have enough storage space for the logs. To give you an idea, I have in the region of 10 m3 of logs stored ahead of next winter. That may be more than most people, but I have learned the difference betweem fully dry and partially dry logs.

Hoploz

I was in the same position as you regarding the drainage issue last year. We have bought a house with old fashioned septic system. I can tell you we haven't had any smell or problems in 9 months. I'm pleasantly surprised. The house works just the same as on mains drainage. You can't use bleach but most of the normal household cleaning fluids say on the packaging that they're safe in a septic system so I haven't had to change anything, I never really used much bleach anyway. I was a bit stuck with what to do with some white spirit when decorating - I ended up leaving it in the sun to evaporate lol.

We have a run off system as well, it apparently originally ran off onto adjacent land but at some stage in the last 10 years it has been re-routed onto our own land. (We know the owners who left in 2003 so they've filled us in on all this!) It is emptied annually to get rid of sludge. We had it emptied a month or so after moving in and while it might be better to have a brand new septic system installed, we are actually quite happy with it.

I would say don't worry about a septic system at all. I would worry about the cost of emptying a Cess pit though. My neighbour pays £150 a lorry, every 4-6 weeks. We have the same lorry but once a year.