Shared sewage treatment tank

yellow218

Penny for your thoughts. 

We moved in to our home about a year ago, and our neighbours moved in about 9 months ago. We get along very well. 

We share a sewage treatment tank which will require emptying and servicing on a regular basis. 

Previous owners split the bill 50:50. Whilst on the face of it that seems fair, there are other factors which we’d consider need to be taken into account.

We have a four bedroom house, but there’s just two of us. 

Neighbours have a four bed house, with two adults and two teenagers. They also have an annex which they intend to use commercial for holiday rentals from the Spring  2022 (we don’t yet know how many people they will have staying with them or how frequently). 

As 2 out of 6 people contributing 💩 waste to the tank we already felt like the 50:50 split on costs was unfair, but we don’t really want to be subsidising their future commercial activities. Our neighbours are open to discussion about it but I’d value some opinions as to the fairest way to move forward please. 

My initial suggestion was that we could split the costs for sewage treatment etc based on proportional use. Using the fresh water use as a guide, for which we are metered. This is how mains sewage companies work out the costs, so it seemed reasonable. However they have additional plans to use their property commercially/agricultural (which we are fine with) that’ll mean their water intake won’t necessarily reflect their waste water volume. 

I’m tempted to suggest that maybe they have a separate meter for their agricultural activities to enable them to identify their household and annex water usage as an indicator of waste production?  

Are there any other ways to fairly and logically split the bill? 

lohr500

As you seem to get on OK with them, perhaps ask them to suggest an amicable split based on the projected use of their property? In your mind what would be reasonable without having to get them to install additional water meters, etc? 25:75, 33.3:66.6 or something else?

Grumpy_chap

Is the shared tank connected in any way to the public sewer?

Could it be connected if it is not connected already?

That would mean the local water / waste water company take care of everything.  You may be able to obligated the statutory undertaker under WIA.  Beware, though, the water company will likely want to "upgrade" the system and that means they take more space...

yellow218

Grumpy_chap said:

Is the shared tank connected in any way to the public sewer?

Could it be connected if it is not connected already?

That would mean the local water / waste water company take care of everything.  You may be able to obligated the statutory undertaker under WIA.  Beware, though, the water company will likely want to "upgrade" the system and that means they take more space...

Grumpy_chap said:

Is the shared tank connected in any way to the public sewer?

Could it be connected if it is not connected already?

That would mean the local water / waste water company take care of everything.  You may be able to obligated the statutory undertaker under WIA.  Beware, though, the water company will likely want to "upgrade" the system and that means they take more space...

No it’s not connected to public sewer. We live out in the sticks and have to have it emptied. Guy comes with a truck and a large hoover to suck up all the solids. Nice huh!

Ms_Chocaholic

How much are the annual servicing/emptying costs?