Septic tank issues

sheramber

 Tank is undersized. 

Is that why it needs upgrading?

JessEast

canaldumidi said:

Sale of a property is a regulatory trigger to make the tank compliant. Bit like compulsory1st registration when a sale takes place.

With 'a large garden' I find it hard to believe there's not space for a drainage field for the outflow from a treatment plant, which does not eed to be nearly as large a a septic tank drainage field.

Who are you getting these quotes /advice from?

Is there not a road drain nearby?

One of my boundaries is a road with surface water drains, so outflow could go into that ??
I too feel like I'm being told by contractors what they want me to know,  not the full options I must have

JessEast

Maybe a cess pit or pool is an option I could explore ?
It would fit in the garden surely!!
My estate agent has offered it up as an idea

canaldumidi

Cess pit is absolutely the last resort. Requires emptying 3 monthly (or more/less depending on use), and if you forget and it overflows.........Yuk!

My neighbour and I recently installed a treatment plant with outflow into the road drain..It's clean water so allowed.

Whereabouts are you? Happy to recommend the company we used if you are in their area.

ProDave

The drainage field required for a treatment plant is only 20 or 25% smaller than that for a septic tank, so not a "massive" difference, but enough in some cases to make it possible.

JessEast

canaldumidi said:

Cess pit is absolutely the last resort. Requires emptying 3 monthly (or more/less depending on use), and if you forget and it overflows.........Yuk!

My neighbour and I recently installed a treatment plant with outflow into the road drain..It's clean water so allowed.

Whereabouts are you? Happy to recommend the company we used if you are in their area.

North Devon

canaldumidi

Sorry. He's Beds, Bucks, Herts area.

Section62

canaldumidi said:

My neighbour and I recently installed a treatment plant with outflow into the road drain..It's clean water so allowed.

Whereabouts are you? Happy to recommend the company we used if you are in their area.

Did you get consent from the highway authority?

Highway drainage is not the same as public sewers, so consent from the owner (the highway authority) would be needed.

And strictly speaking they shouldn't give consent as the purpose of highway drainage isn't to collect discharges from private domestic sewage treatment.

AdrianC

Section62 said:

Treatment plants of the type AdrianC linked to were developed to improve the final water quality of septic tank systems to a level where consent to discharge to a watercourse could then be obtained. Often it was more economic (and less disruptive) to buy a system of that kind rather than replacing a failed drainage field.

Yes, I should have clarified that we're on a sloping plot, with lots of trees, just above a stream that goes through a nature reserve just downstream...

So, absolutely, quality of output and not having to replace our (almost certainly clogged) field tipped us that way.

BUT... I can't help feeling even without those factors this is a simpler solution. It certainly puts the "£30k" quotes the OP's had into perspective, which was the primary aim in posting. Data not being the plural of anecdote, an' all.

canaldumidi

Section62 said:

canaldumidi said:

My neighbour and I recently installed a treatment plant with outflow into the road drain..It's clean water so allowed.

Whereabouts are you? Happy to recommend the company we used if you are in their area.

Did you get consent from the highway authority?

Highway drainage is not the same as public sewers, so consent from the owner (the highway authority) would be needed.

And strictly speaking they shouldn't give consent as the purpose of highway drainage isn't to collect discharges from private domestic sewage treatment.

Installer got Highways and Building Control sign-off, yes.