New septic tank legislation

Davesnave

Twinklepony wrote: »

Yes the buyer had a company that sells new septic tanks and treatment plants coming out ! Which to me doesn’t seem fair as of course they are going to try and sell them a new one ! :mad:

The question was asked in good faith, but I would ask who else, besides someone in the business of installing drainage, could be expected to come out and make an assessment at a reasonable cost?

Twinklepony

I understand what you are saying Davesnave but I look at it like I am looking at my onwards purchase - if there is something I am concerned about I would have a specialist independent non biased survey to explain what I need - to me this is like asking Anglian Windows if I need a new front door - of course they are going to say yes I do ! But I think I may have found some ideas to help move things along.

Madmel

When we bought out house, we had a full structural survey done, which included the waste treatment system. Our RICS surveyor described it as "the Rolls Royce of treatment plants". This was back in 2006 and it dated from 1997/8. It is a Klargester Bio Disk. Would there be a qualified surveyor who could take a look?

It is serviced annually but the top tank isn't emptied as that's where the bacteria are. The sludge tank is pumped out twice a year. We do have 2 cottages also on the same system (owned by us) but they are not fully occupied so we could probably drop the de-sludging down to annually. However, the installing company does the work and when we have had a problem, they are really quick to sort it, so it's a small price to pay. If you want the name of the company in Devon, PM me

Davesnave

Twinklepony wrote: »

I understand what you are saying Davesnave but I look at it like I am looking at my onwards purchase - if there is something I am concerned about I would have a specialist independent non biased survey to explain what I need - to me this is like asking Anglian Windows if I need a new front door - of course they are going to say yes I do ! But I think I may have found some ideas to help move things along.

I get what you're saying too, but if finding one of these independent, non-biased surveyors is as hard as it is to find independent damp and wood treatment specialists, then your purchasers may have had little choice.


There are swathes of the country where the latter are like chicken's teeth.

Dyrham

The Environment agency effectively delegated the responsibility of deciding if tanks are compliant to professional installers.

If you have a tank that is old, discharges its overflow without any treatment to a drain that eventually finds its way to a stream or ditch then that is no longer legal from 1/1/2020.

Many solicitors and estate agents are catching up with this so any buyer is right to ask it be fixed or the price reduced to fix it themselves.

A google search on 'new septic tank rules 2020' will produce hundreds of hits now. Waste companies, estate agents, solicitors blogs etc.

This gets very complicated when several properties share a tank and one wants to sell....

Catti

Twinklepony wrote: »

The tank was installed over 60 years ago so who knows !

https://www.wte-ltd.co.uk/septic_tank_general_binding_rules_2020.html#England
If your septic tank was installed before 1983, then this was before any British Standards were in place. Your tank does not have to meet the above standards.

AdrianC

Dyrham wrote: »

If you have a tank that is old, discharges its overflow without any treatment to a drain that eventually finds its way to a stream or ditch then that is no longer legal from 1/1/2020.

Many solicitors and estate agents are catching up with this so any buyer is right to ask it be fixed or the price reduced to fix it themselves.

A google search on 'new septic tank rules 2020' will produce hundreds of hits now. Waste companies, estate agents, solicitors blogs etc.

TBF, the regs were changed with effect from 2015 - it's just that this year's the final deadline for compliance.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/general-binding-rules-small-sewage-discharge-to-the-ground

It shouldn't have come as a great surprise to anybody.

Twinklepony

I have found a company that will install a treatment plant for £6500 plus the dreaded so have offered to go halves with the buyers but they still are not happy and want another company to come and look - on investigation this company only deal with super expensive treatment plants £18k !!

I think I have been really fair with my offer to go halves to make it compliant - they also had a Rics surveyor look at it at he didn’t know !

I just wish they would be fair too - my onward purchase has a septic tank but I haven’t got stressed about it - I have had a surveyor take a look and just waiting for the results but if that didn’t comply and the vendor offered half I’d be happy with that !

And the before 1984 rule doesn’t really apply unfortunately - it’s basically all septic tanks so I have been told today but good thinking

j_a_k

How did this turn out OP?

I'm currently in the process of buying a property built in 1980. Septic tank is in a field behind the house which doesn't belong to the property.

The General Binding Rules came in in 2015, but there was 5 years grace to comply. This ended on 1 Jan 2020 and it is now illegal to operate a septic tank which is in a state of disrepair, isn't maintained (ie emptied by a competent person at least yearly with proper written records), discharges effluent into a ditch or watercourse, or into a crate, single drainage pipe with holes, or soakaway. In other words, most older properties.

What seems to confuse people is it's not the tank the Environment Agency are most bothered about, it's what happens to the effluent (the liquid run off from the tank) as it's this which is the polluter. It's the effluent discharge which is likely not to comply if the tank was installed more than about 20 yrs ago. To comply the effluent needs to either enter a drainage field, located 15m from the property and about 50m wide, containing several pipes bedded on hardcore, or it needs to be dealt with in the tank by way of a sewage treatment facility which inevitably means a new tank for most older properties. Cost is dependent on size, which is dependent on how many bedrooms the property has and requires an electrical supply connected to the house.


The issue regarding British Standards is in respect to how the actual septic tank is constructed. If it's a new tank it has to comply to the BS, but BS doesn't apply to tanks constructed pre 1983. However, the General Binding Rules above still apply, even to old or existing tanks.


It's a ticking time bomb for rural off grid properties. Everyone is bobbing along quite nicely until they decide to sell, and this triggers questions about their sewage.

The onus is on the "operator" to have a legal sewage system, ie the seller/owner. It's really not the buyer's responsibility, though some might be so desperate to buy they might agree to help with the cost.

The tank in the house I've offered on doesn't comply. Under the law it's his responsibility as the operator to sell a house which has legal sewerage and I have no intention of paying towards this. I appreciate if you're the seller it's a crap situation (no pun intended) but it's just the way it is. I'm not saying it's fair, and I think there should be grants in place to help sellers comply.

There is also no easement, ie legal right, in place to access the field to maintain or empty the tank on the property I've offered on, which is necessary to comply with the new rules. This again is up to the seller to sort out.

My seller is currently deciding what to do. I suspect he won't want to fork out for a new treatment plant but I'm not paying a penny as it's not my responsibilty. If I'm forced to pull out of the sale he'll face the same issue with the next buyer. The building survey I had done highlighted the issue, and so did my solicitor who has already done conveyancing on a sale this month which involved the same issue (I'm in a very rural area).

Hope this info is useful to others in this position.

AdrianC

j_a_k wrote: »

The General Binding Rules came in in 2015, but there was 5 years grace to comply. This ended on 1 Jan 2020 and it is now illegal to operate a septic tank which ... isn't maintained (ie emptied by a competent person at least yearly with proper written records)

That's not quite true.

* Maintenance must be undertaken by someone who is competent.
* Waste sludge from the system must be safely disposed of by an authorised person.
* If a property is sold, the operator must give the new operator a written notice stating that a small sewage discharge is being carried out, and giving a description of the waste water system and its maintenance requirements.

But no specific requirement for any particular timescale or any particular written records of emptying.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/397173/ssd-general-binding-rules.pdf