Septic tank ?

ant0912

Septic tank 

propertyrental

What did your own sewer survey show and who did it?

eg
https://www.owlshall.co.uk/sewage-treatment/home-buyers-survey/

maisie_cat

If the sellers were paying Severn Trent it is possible that they didn't know the difference, many people don't.
When we bought our house the sellers "didn't know" about the sewage because it was a probate sale but the Welsh Water search told us that there was no drainage. Did your solicitors provide a search in the pack?

user1977

ant0912 said:

Would I be entitled to claim against the search companies indemnity insurance ? 

Only if the information they provided wasn't what they were told by the water company.

ProDave

So now ST have agreed it is not connected to their sewer, ask them to remove that charge from their bill and just pay for mains water supply.

Then clear the jungle of a garden, find that manhole, open it and continue your search to find where it all does go to.

If it is a septic tank it is probably long overdue for emptying.

maisie_cat

ProDave said:

So now ST have agreed it is not connected to their sewer, ask them to remove that charge from their bill and just pay for mains water supply.

Then clear the jungle of a garden, find that manhole, open it and continue your search to find where it all does go to.

If it is a septic tank it is probably long overdue for emptying.

It took us 2 years to find the manhole on our tank, it had been planted over!
But it wasn't too bad, we are still trying to get it emptied but the local companies are only interested in "emergency"  emptying

ant0912

maisie_cat said:

If the sellers were paying Severn Trent it is possible that they didn't know the difference, many people don't.
When we bought our house the sellers "didn't know" about the sewage because it was a probate sale but the Welsh Water search told us that there was no drainage. Did your solicitors provide a search in the pack?

We had a water and drainage search done , it stated that surface water doesn’t appear to be connected and this should be take up with the water company as this could result in a reduction of costs on a water bill. 

Then it stated is the property connected to mains drainage ? YES was the answer. 

Also looking at the search results in the property legal pack they say they will indemnify if any of the information is wrong. 

Spoke to our lawyers today and she said but you knew the surface water wasn’t connected - so it’s buyer beware ,

 I replied that we aren’t talking about the surface water question  - but the question numbered  2.1 on mains sewage report  (foul water) - she was gobsmacked & said that’s not good! - to send in the report starting it’s not connected & they’ll take it up with the search company

 I also agreed the previous owner may have been paying the water company thinking it was mains connected as she bought it off the previous owner who’d apparently had the toilet put inside - in the 1950s.

But next door says he remembers a septic tank -  so we have a rough idea on the 1/4 acre ‘forest’ where it could be . Bearing in mind it was a grass field until 2003 - now it’s full of trees and undergrowth. 

Search indemnity does state they cover of the information provided is incorrect -  if it excludes information given by a water company then I’d think at the very least the water company who’s has thousands over 60 years or so would be connecting us to the mains sewer at their cost as it runs past the house ! 

Where our drains go away from the street & this is where the technicians started saying this isn’t right! When they then ran out of cctv reel as they couldn’t locate the chamber the cctv had stopped in - they called their boss for a larger cctv truck to attend - who promptly said it’s obviously a septic tank or private drainage - the job is over - they aren’t on the mains . 

ant0912

propertyrental said:

What did your own sewer survey show and who did it?

We didn’t have a survey . 

They wouldn’t cover drainage unless we’d had a separate one done & as they property was built in 2006 with only a small part from the 1800s the paperwork showed the drains all going into manhole and the street is literally 10 ft away from the manhole, as the water and drainage search stated it was connected to mains sewer for foul water , and surface water r didn’t appear connected - the assumption there is surface water is soak sways as not all houses connect to surface water drainage especially rural. .

indemnity cover does exist but wether they will try to throw it back at water company for giving the wrong information I don’t know -  I do know that Severn Trent charge £480 connection plus the contractors charge for laying pipe - easy solution would be they arrange to foot the bill to connect us - after all , they have been taking around  £100 year I believe,   for sewage they haven’t even been taking away !   

My concern is where’s the septic tank & the dangers of it being full & how safe the lid is , as two manholes on site not buried have had to be replaced because of cracks.  Septic tanks or cesspools & drowning just gives me sleepless nights .
now neither of us are going out walking around the overgrown land unaccompanied . 

It’s a nightmare.

Section62

ant0912 said:

anyway Severn Trent were charging for surface water and I asked them to map the system as the search said there wasn’t surface water connected to system.  Fast forward to today and the engineers concluded the house isn’t connected to the sewers and it’s private drainage. We have 1/4 acre and they ran out of cctv reel. 

It went 25m then into a manhole they couldn’t find in the forest of a garden ! Then the water 100% flowed left and the main sewers was to the right.  They checked their sewers for the dyed water and it was no. 

Their survey isn't good enough to rule out a connection to the foul sewer - although it might work to your advantage if ST decide to take the survey as definitive and stop charging you for sewerage services.

When sewers are provided in a previously unsewered area it isn't uncommon for the connection to be made near to the original treatment/disposal point, rather than near to the house.  So it is plausible that the pipe from the house heads in the opposite direction to where the main sewer is located.

Likewise, it is plausible that it is the outflow rather than inflow pipe of the septic tank which has been diverted to the main sewer - this isn't ideal, but equally isn't unheard of.  If that applied in your case then a dye test may fail due to the time and dilution factors while the dyed water makes its way through your system and reaches the main sewer.

Did they survey the main sewer to see if there was a live connection which corresponds to where your property is, and is otherwise unaccounted for?

Edit: Did the work done in 2006 have planning consent?  If so, what does it say about drainage?

ProDave

Having a septic tank is not a bad thing and it can save you money not paying for sewage charges.

Get a strimmer and go and clear your overgrown garden.  work in pairs one strimming and one raking the cut grass to clear it into heaps so you can see the ground and locate all the manholes one of which will cover the actual septic tank.  But if it was installed in the 50's it is likely a concrete one with a big rectangular concrete lid that may or may not have a manhole in it, it should be pretty obvious.

maisie_cat

If the septic was over flowing you'd smell it. We have a 1/2 acre wooded area, overgrown when we bought and we had no idea where the septic tank was. It was a probate sale and nobody knew.
It took use 2 years to find it, the manhole was buried under bushes. When we opened it it was fine.
It appears to drain well, we know we'll need to get it emptied and desludged so we can inspect it.