Septic Tanks.

[Tilly2]

Does anyone live in a house which has a septic tank?
Can you explain how they are 'managed' please.

[Zacs-Master]

A big tanker comes round at regular intervals and pumps out all the effluent.

[Psybbo]

Moving to the country, Tilly?

[Tilly2]

Not if it's not on a sewage system, Psybbo.

Unless someone can tell me that a property with a septic tank is no trouble

[Tilly2]

grumpydrawers, you had me worried then. How often do they have to be emptied and does it cost a lot to do it?

[KARL]

There are different types. The simplest is a single chamber tank, others have successive chambers where, in stages, the sewage is settled and digested by bacteria. All the different types are emptied periodically by a tanker, but most of the time only the first chamber is emptied in multi-chamber tanks. The multi-chamber ones most often have an outlet from the final chamber and the effluent runs into ground soak areas and in some cases into watercourses, lakes or the sea (depending on local regulations). Single chamber tanks rarely have an outlet to anywhere these days and therefore usually have to be emptied of the entire contents before they are full to overflowing. The latest approach is to have mini treatment plants installed, some of which are smaller than a multi-chamber septic tank, and these are often certified as producing effluent that can be discharged directly onto agricultural land and/or into watercourses.

[Maydup]

There are very easy to manage Tilly; we have ours emptied once a year in the winter when its easy to get to but some people leave it longer.

Generally there are 2 pits or tanks. The effluence enters the first tank and it naturally decomposes with the liquid draining off into the second chamber. This then soaks away underground. We have both emptied once a year to make sure nothing backs up but we do nothing else.

Its best to avoid flushing anything unatural down the loo. We read the packet and find a loo cleaner that is suitable for septic tanks. Loo roll is fine, it disintegrates, but nothing much else should be flushed or poured down the sink if that drains into the tank too.

Water rates are reduced for no sewage and the cost of our annual empty is £80.

[Tilly2]

Thank you, karl. You obviously know a lot about them. I need to ask more questions when we look at properties. Now I know what questions to ask.
We looked at a property recently which had a shared tank with the cottage next door. I didn't like that idea and it put me off.

[Tilly2]

Thank you Maydup. That's really helpful.

[Maydup]

I certainly wouldn't want to share!

[Frank97]

I wish we still had our septic tank, we've been connected to the main drains for about six years with nothing but trouble. IE, toilets backing up, garden getting flooded and all the time Wessex Water just say there is nothing they can do as the pumps are working at full capacity, so being on a main sewer is not necessarily better than a septic tank, not round here anyway.

[tonyav]

We used to own an house that had a septic tank, used to have it emptied once a year, Yilly.

[Tilly2]

So, I shouldn't let the fact that a property has a septic tank put me off, then. That's good news.

[Tilly2]

I don't intend to feed anything grupmydrawers, except the family.

[tonyav]

Yilly, we lived in the house with the septic tank ( first house that we bought ) for six years and we never had any problems regarding the septic tank.

[jomifl]

we had a house with a single chamber septic tank, It had a volume of about 6 cubic metres and worked flawlessly for the 16 years we(2) had the house. It took all the domestic waste water, bath, washing machine, dish washer, kitchen sink and loos. It din't cost us a penny to run.

[FredPuli43]

Must depend on what type you have. None are problematic. Ours was installed 60 years ago and I can only remember it being attended to once.

[Tilly2]

I didn't know that all the water went into them. I thought it was just the toilet flush. See, I know nothing. I'm glad I asked this question.