Shared Septic Tank, Neighbours refusing to pay to empty it.

DavidF

This is the 2nd time that they have broken the deed of easement, the first being when they refused to allow the phone line to be fixed after they accidentally cut it in half. So if we could get the deed nullified that would be great.

Sounds like time to plan a system of your own. I know my brother in law managed to do this (tank on his land) with his non paying non maintaining neighbour....From memory I think he had to get environmental health out to condemn the tank/system which meant that both of them were legally obliged to act....BIL was fed up with the neighbours for being a pain over the tank for over 20 odd years so they used this as a get out of jail free card and put their own tank in for their own property....and the neighbours had to pay out and get one installed in their property.....For the sake of a few hundred every 8 years or so it ended up costing both thousands...BUT BIL was happy to be rid of the challenge of having to deal with inconsiderate neighbour.

Davesnave

As you are in a GPZ, the Environment Agency may be the best ultimate weapon in your armoury, but they're a fairly indescriminate one too. They will use compulsion if they decide upgrades to sewage disposal systems are required.

The system has already failed and you are into a situation where the outflow needs jet blasting to clear it. If I were in that position, I'd be preparing for the worst, which could be that the pipework beyond is full of detritis and the leach field really needs total replacement. You may get some temporary relief, but ultimately, a renewal beyond the tank could well be necessary.

At that point you might wish to install your own treatment plant.

The above is all without consideration of the legal position. Because we had a good solicitor, a clause joining the neighbour's property to ours for sewerage purposes was challenged and removed during the purchase process. I cannot say whether you might now have similar success.

It's a pity that you didn't have a drainage survey when purchasing, but to be fair, I didn't, and most people don't.

suki1964

Seriously you have raw sewage overflowing in your garden and you are flaffing about with quotes?

Get the tank desludged for the sake of your own health, then fight for the money

Here in NI it's £110 if we need to pay. We get a free one every year if we need it. Anymore then that it's obvious there's a problem with the set up so we get charged

Also invest in a good long set of rods, saves a small fortune and keep an eye on what's happening in the tank. We dont flush anything that shouldn't be flushed, but the pipes still get blocked by soap powder Great big bloody chunks of it. We of course only become aware when the toilets won't empty. We have never ever had the tank empty into the garden, it always backs up to the house when there's nowhere for it to go

Davesnave

demi.weston wrote: »

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lstar337

Zebhog wrote: »

Thank you for all your replies. To answer some questions...

The first quote we got to empty the tank was a year ago before we both bought the properties as part of the buying process - both houses used to be owned by the same family, they were originally farm worker cottages. So they were aware a year ago that it needed doing. We then got another quote about 2 months later, which they didn't agree with so they got a quote - except the company they selected didn't cover our address, so that was pointless.

We then let it rumble on and kept saying it needed doing and they kept stalling so about 6 weeks ago we wrote to them with the contact details of another company along with their quote and asked them to let us know in writing if they wanted to proceed with the quote we got, if they wanted to get an alternative quote, as long as it is from a certified company, it is part of the rules living in a water protection zone that you have a maintenance plan and use certified waste people, or to let us know if they didn't want to pay.

Unfortunately are neighbours are odd and you have conversations with them and they then deny they ever happened a day later, so I wanted their agreement in writing as I dont want to stitch the waste company up if they have no intention of paying.

We gave them a month to get back to us and then we went to see them and they said they hadn't had enough time to look at alternative quotes so we gave them another 2 weeks. They never got back to us so we saw them again which is when they started shouting that we can't make them pay blah blah blah.

The tank needs emptying as it is full of inappropriate stuff, I think it was from the previous owners as she is quite old, and it is starting to overflow into our garden and we have been advised to jet blast the pipes back to the house as they have a limescale build up and to blast the soakaway.

There are a few variables in the quote as no one knows how big the tank is and also how thick the sludge is. It is £150 per 1000 gallons - how big can a tank be?

My ideal solution would be to cut them off, but I am really not sure I can do that. This is the 2nd time that they have broken the deed of easement, the first being when they refused to allow the phone line to be fixed after they accidentally cut it in half. So if we could get the deed nullified that would be great.

Thanks

At this point I think I would get the work done myself and then take your neighbours to small claims to get your money back. Then disconnect them.

lstar337

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Errrrm...and they wouldnt be "up sh*t street without a paddle" actually - as they could always have a compost loo...and (kept suitably enough for long enough) bingo = compost for the garden.

EDIT; quick google and adverts brought up one for sale for £1,300.

And I'm sure they will be willing to do that, even though the can't even cough up £200 (not a lot really) to get the current tank sorted.