Shared Septic Tank

Mrs_pbradley936

I have lived in two rural houses that had this arrangement. Never had any problems, we would take it in turns to pay "the lavender wagon" although in one case my neighbour did all the arranging because he had lived there for decades and I was the new comer. he had always done it so I let him continue.

In the other case one or other of us would call and make the appointment. Whomever called paid. There was never any problem and it is just part and parcel of country living. Like no street lights or pavements.

teffers

Thanks G_M ... Really appreciate that.

Good idea looking into the cost of my own. I have a feeling it might be prohibitive though.

Thanks Mrs Bradley for the positive story of tank co-ownership ... I'm feeling better about it all now I have a lot more background in regards to what to watch out for etc.

Mrs_pbradley936

I forgot to mention that you should make sure that anything you put down the drains is Ok for tanks. Plus and I am not sure how important this is I was advised not to use the washing machine too much on any one day but spread it over the week. It was the driver that said so but I never did find out if that was an old wives tale.

He also told me that bleach to clean the toilet was ok if you left it for a couple of hours before flushing- I expect that is true because bleach turns to salt after a while.

dragonsoup

Mine isn't shared but it is quite old and quite small. Provided you treat them properly they really don't need much in the way of maintenance - mine has just been emptied for the first time in 10 years.

G_M

thorsoak wrote: »

If it is your "ideal" home, but the idea of the shared septic tank isn't, get some quotes for installing a tank on your property, and see if you can negoiate a reduction in the price from the seller.

I can't see the point in this.

Nor can I see the seller reducing the price! If you are mad enough to want to install a totally unnecessary tank, then get your own cheque book out!

And bear in mind that there are now much more specific rules governing the installation of new septic tanks. I'm a bit out of date with the leglislation, but believe that the compulsory obtaining of a permit (introduced then put on hold around 10 years ago?) has been done away with for existing small-scale domestic tanks in most 'non-sensitive' areas.

But you may wish to check the up-to-date rules.....

AdrianC

Mrs_pbradley936 wrote: »

I forgot to mention that you should make sure that anything you put down the drains is Ok for tanks. Plus and I am not sure how important this is I was advised not to use the washing machine too much on any one day but spread it over the week. It was the driver that said so but I never did find out if that was an old wives tale.

The tank is always full-ish with liquid, plus whatever level of solid sludge at the bottom. As more liquid goes in, some goes down the soakaway/drainage field, and disperses into the ground. If you put a large amount of liquid in in one go, it may overflow.

Davesnave

AdrianC wrote: »

The tank is always full-ish with liquid, plus whatever level of solid sludge at the bottom. As more liquid goes in, some goes down the soakaway/drainage field, and disperses into the ground. If you put a large amount of liquid in in one go, it may overflow.

Yes, but if it's just water from a washing machine etc that won't matter, as it's simply clear liquid which comes out the other end and it's designed to 'overflow.'.

What the tanker driver might have been referring to is the amount of chemicals in washing machine water, which don't do the bugs any favours. However, we have never found that an issue in our (admittedly large) tank and about one wash every two days.

Behaviour over time does have an influence. Being able to compare two tanks, side by side, I note that ours always has an active crust on it, whereas next door's often looks 'dead' and smelly. Next door claim they are very careful with the use of cleaning chemicals etc, but the tank never lies!

teffers

Thanks to everyone for your time and input.

Ok so the visit went well.

Tank emptied once every 3 years or so (last emptied 6 months ago).

It is indeed on the neighbours land and it costs £80 to be emptied by a local company. When its full, it's apparent at the neighbours long before it is at the side I'm buying (so that makes me a little more confident if an issue does arise).

Tank is brick type apprarently (no idea if that's good or bad) and it's been there since the properties were built (80 yrs ish).

It's been a learning curve with regard to 'waste management' in the countryside lol, but I'm a lot happier than I was yesterday.

Seller suggested arranging a 'meet' with the neighbours too so that should be fun.

Cheers everyone :-)

NewShadow

teffers wrote: »

Then you can have the situation that the other household doesn't take any care in what they flush - causing the system to fail to be effective - it's then a cost factor for me more often than it should be.

This would be my issue.

We had a septic tank, it was no problem, and I'd be happy to have one again.

I'd have issues sharing one... your neighbour flushing the wrong things and clogging it up, using bleaches and killing the bacteria, being reluctant to invest in maintenance or improvements to the soakaway... could go from a couple of hundred ever 5 or so years to 300 a year (or more) if it goes wrong.

Edit - just seen your post saying the tank is emptied every three years. Obviously I don't know the size/use, but this would make me worry it's poorly maintained.

We emptied out tank once in the time we lived in mid-wales (for about 8 years). I would have expected our relatively small tank to have needed every 5 - 7 years, and someone above quotes 10.

3 years seems very frequent.

greenbee

Davesnave wrote: »

Also, watch out for changes in the regs. Someone whose tank also drains into our land is going to face upgrading to a full treatment plant when their tank run-out needs renewal. At present, it's emptying within 7 metres of a stream, but no reputable contractor will replace it in that position nowadays.....and it can't go uphill!

That's going to be fun in my village... I don't think many of the various septic tanks/treatment plants are more than 7 metres from a stream (nor are the houses!).

G_M wrote: »

I share a tank with my neighbour. It's in his garden.

When I first moved in, he used to get it pumped out once a year, put the invoice from the company through my door with a polite letter, and I would write a cheque for half the amount.

Since the pump out was already cheaper than the water company fees for sewarage, plus we split it 50/50, it was a great saving.

After a few years, I read up on septic tanks, discussed with neighbour (yes - over tea and cake!), and now he gets it pumped out every few years, not annually. Even cheaper and all works fine.

Of course in my case everything has been amicable and easy. And this is the norm. But I guess you might get disagreements about how often it should be emptied.

And if it is old/leaking/blocked there might be costs of repair/replacement just as with any other part of a property that needs maintenance.

So things to consider:

* do the deeds specify the shared rights properly?
* who's garden is it in (ie if yours, you'll have the key responsibility)
* what condition is it in? (no different to asking about the condition of the roof etc)
* have you met the neighbours? If not, why not?!

We have a fairly unsatisfactory setup where I own the land and treatment plant that serves 6 properties. This house was built last after the plot on which two victorian semi-detached cottages were built was redeveloped, and for some reason the ownership of the plant (which had been running and serving the other houses for a couple of years) was transferred from the builders to the last house to be completed... There are covenants in place that govern how the setup works (owner of this house manages it and splits the costs 6 ways), but interestingly the owner of this house has never actually done so - it has always been done on a 'volunteer manager' basis by one of the other property owners. The current one is about to give up, so it'll be interesting to see whether anyone else volunteers.

As this is a treatment plant, with a fibreglass vessel, electric pumps/blowers etc there are costs involved in running it, and at times parts need replacing. Some years are expensive as they need replacing, and there is no sinking fund. Everyone moans, but we can't get everyone to agree to getting a fund set up - which will be interesting when the vessel needs replacing (it's about 30 years old so not far off end of life).

However, as someone mentioned above, we've improved the running of it dramatically over the past couple of years by finding out more about how to run it - it used to be emptied 3 times a year, but when we looked at the volumes and compared to how much was removed when the pump failed, we realised that it was being emptied too frequently. Now we empty it less frequently and it is performing much better.

A note is due to go out with the annual report reminding people how the system works and what they can/can't put into it, but I doubt that some of the older generation will change anything (you can tell when chemical cleaners are used, as the artificial citrus smells are very obvious if you're anywhere near the tank when they come in!).

As several people have said, overall, it is cheaper than mains drainage. And unless the environment agency establish a systemic problem with pollution of the waterways I can't see mains drainage being put in.

It's worth checking for any covenants relating to drainage, and also talking to the neighbours when you move in about what the arrangement is for dealing with the tank.