Cesspit or septic tank

annieb1981

Hi everyone,
I have come on before looking advice regarding drainage and am pleased to say we got the drainage sorted out our back yard to a new soakaway at front. However, we were then required to put in a new septic tank soakaway as the sewage kept backing up under the house and it was believed original soakaway couldnt manage the volume. When the septic tank was exposed it appeared to have no outlet to a soakaway . . . Which is very strange as on our deeds it shows a soakaway nearby. The men carrying our the work wondered if the tank soaked away perhaps into the ground underneath, however we couldn't get a proper view of the very bottom at that time. With this in mind the workmen connected a new outlet to a new herringbone soakaway along the front garden believing this would work. It didn't. Our front garden is now completely saturated with smelly water sleeping out and down our drive past all our neighbours 🫣 there is literally nowhere for the water to go, the water table just won't allow it to soak into the ground.

We are now not sure how to approach the situation. We have contacted our insurance company who are due out, however we are not sure how this will go since we did work to the tank. But we hope it will maybe find the tank was no longer fit for purpose? Is it a septic tank or a cesspit?

If anyone has any advice it would be appreciated.

Section62

annieb1981 said:

Hi everyone,
I have come on before looking advice regarding drainage and am pleased to say we got the drainage sorted out our back yard to a new soakaway at front. However, we were then required to put in a new septic tank soakaway as the sewage kept backing up under the house and it was believed original soakaway couldnt manage the volume. When the septic tank was exposed it appeared to have no outlet to a soakaway . . . Which is very strange as on our deeds it shows a soakaway nearby. The men carrying our the work wondered if the tank soaked away perhaps into the ground underneath, however we couldn't get a proper view of the very bottom at that time. With this in mind the workmen connected a new outlet to a new herringbone soakaway along the front garden believing this would work. It didn't. Our front garden is now completely saturated with smelly water sleeping out and down our drive past all our neighbours 🫣 there is literally nowhere for the water to go, the water table just won't allow it to soak into the ground.

We are now not sure how to approach the situation. We have contacted our insurance company who are due out, however we are not sure how this will go since we did work to the tank. But we hope it will maybe find the tank was no longer fit for purpose? Is it a septic tank or a cesspit?

If anyone has any advice it would be appreciated.

If there was no outlet then it was a cesspit, not a septic tank.

Older septic tank systems also usually have multiple tanks - at least a primary and secondary.  More modern systems could have one tank divided into primary and secondary compartments.  The reason for this is so the primary tank deals with the solids - the secondary tank continues the process, but is mainly for allowing any remaining solid matter to settle out to stop solids getting into the drainage field/soakaway and blocking it.  A system with only a primary tank will likely block the drainage field unless very lightly used (e.g. a very large tank serving only one occupant).

If you had a single-tank cesspit then connecting to to a drainage field was unlikely to work for long... and was probably unlawful.  And if the ground is saturated nothing is going to soak away.

Probably the best solution - if you have a ditch (or in some situations a pond) - is to get a packaged treatment plant which treats the septic tank contents to high enough quality to allow it to be discharged into a watercourse.  The alternative is probably going back to a cesspit, but you'd have to accept the ongoing cost of getting it emptied on a regular basis, and also being careful about water use.

annieb1981

I do wonder why our deeds had a soakaway marked in it especially when it was 1960s property before the proper building control regulations came out. I'm worried we have now done something illegal without knowing it because always believed there to be somewhere for it to soakaway too.

stuart45

Building Regulations were around a long time before the 1960's. The only difference was that in 1966 the first set of comprehensive national regs that applied to the whole country apart from London were introduced. Before that local councils were guided more by their own.

WIAWSNB

annieb1981 said:

I do wonder why our deeds had a soakaway marked in it especially when it was 1960s property before the proper building control regulations came out. I'm worried we have now done something illegal without knowing it because always believed there to be somewhere for it to soakaway too.

What a pickle.
Can you confirm - your current situation is that you still have what is presumably a 'cesspit', but that the 'men carrying out the work's just added an outlet pipe leading to a 'herringbone soakaway'? 
How deep was this laid?
And do you know if surface water - rain from roof and ground - also feed in to the same cesspit? (If not, where does it go?)
I know little about such systems, but it seems surprising to me that the men 'thought' that perhaps the cesspit drained out at low level. How could it, since all the solids are down there and would surely prevent this? 
How long have you lived here for?
If this a recent issue?
How often do you have the CP emptied?
What do your neighbours do about their setups?
And could you show us your deeds map that indicates the location of the CP and seemingly SA on your land?

Section62

I know little about such systems, but it seems surprising to me that the men 'thought' that perhaps the cesspit drained out at low level. How could it, since all the solids are down there and would surely prevent this? 

The solids at the bottom would be hydrated sludge, very fluid. If the water table is low and the base of the septic tank is just soil then the liquid will just seep into the ground. On very light land with good percolation and relatively low use the septic tank can end up operating more like a compost toilet - the 'water' drains into the ground leaving the solid waste to rot at the bottom of the tank.

But if there is only one chamber and this has a permeable bottom then calling it a septic tank may be incorrect - as a fundamental of the septic tank system is having anaerobic decomposition, and that only happens if the solid waste is below the water level. If the 'water' just drains away leaving the solids to rot then that would be aerobic decomposition, not 'septic'.

So they weren't wildly wrong in believing it is possible the exit from the tank is via the base, but things went wrong when they thought constructing a drainage field in ground which isn't suitable would be a good idea.