Cost of Owning a Septic Tank???

I built my house 11 years ago and have never had the septic tank emptied. As long as the bacteria is active the solids will disappear. Avoid strong chemicals and use an activator every 6 months You will be told by others to have it emptied every year and average cost is around £100 So I've saved £1100 Blair

A properly sized, installed, and functioning septic tank should not need emtying more than once every two years. A charge of £100 would be a ball park cost. A considerable saving on the water charge for sewage disposal.

Peter Crosland

All well and good provided it is functioning correctly. Have you had the output tested to see that it is within the consent limits?

Peter Crosland

Well I haven't touched my klargester in 4 years and its running fine.

Its sized for 6-8 people because that's the house size, but only two use it mainly...

I guess it will need emptying in a few years. Its supposed to be the sort of 80 quid a year call out and pump thing, but I suspect I may simply get in with a spade and wheelbarrow and dig out most of it and stick it on the compost heap one day...

You nose will tell you that.

If bacteria can survive in the outflow, there are nutrients coming out, and it will pong.

Found your level in life eh.

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Thats a very sweeping statement, it depends entirely on _what_ and how _much_ is going into the tank, it's not the tank that will eventually block but the soakaway system. Which could cost LOTS to renew, even if future legislation allows it.

-- Mark§

Thanks for the info!

Really?

What's an "activator", and where is it obtained?

What are the "consent limits"? Is this a legal requirement regarding septic tanks?

Thanks Peter!

Thanks for the info TNP!

Also, would I be right in thinking that detergents can have a negative effect on a septic tank?

So, water from gutters, washing machine, bath/shower/sink should *not* be run into it.

Instead gutters should run into a ditch; the washing machine, bath/shower/sink should run into a soakpit.

Is this correct?

All effluent runs into the septic tank. The only soakaways are for the rainwater downpipes. Well not strictly true of course as the septic tank has its own soakaway. In the yellow pages you should find companies who will empty it, as said, for about £100, though mine has not been emptied in the five years it has been installed. Some of my neighbours use a farmer, who I suspect pumps it onto his fields, they save themselves about £20, A poor bargain I think, a proper disposer gives you a disposal certificate. You can get special liquid, quite expensive, to aid break down of effluent, but the important thing is to not use bleach or biological washing powders. Also as has been said, if there is a problem there is a smell. My neighbours has an old concrete tank, and that is failing, further more the discharge is coming onto my land. They are not prepared to do anything about it, and no officials are interested, if I wish to stop it I will have to go through the courts, not an expense I wish to undertake.

I've never had any kind of paperwork from my septic tank emptier.

There's no reason not to use bio washing powder.

Report them to the Environment Agency who will deal with them for you.

Google is your friend!!

If your septic tank discharges into a soakaway field such as a herringbone system of drain pots within your own garden/land theres no-one likely to have any axe to grind about consents.Discharge into a drainage ditch may be subject to checking if the effluent is accessible. At the very worst after many years of use the soakaway field may need digging out and replacing. Nothing about it is rocket science and replacement is easy enough. We had a septic tank installed in 1956, emptied it out in 1970, and it was still running fine when we moved on in 1980. Its output soaked away into about 50 metres of land drainage in our garden. A dead cat or a bit of decaying road kill is a very good activator if the bacteria are adversely affected by an uneducated housewife bunging bleach down the toilet

You'll probably hear lots of differing views but the key effect on cost of running a septic tank is how well you treat it. If you bung all sorts of liquids and solids down it it won't function well and will need regular emptying. But if you just put proper bio-degradeable stuff in this stuff will degrade most effectively and there'll never be any cost.

Unlikely. They have a whole book of reasons NOT to do anything.

They should run into a soakaway not a watercourse

the washing machine,

They should run into the septic tank.

A risk getting a criminal record. It is a serious offence to do so.

A poor bargain I think, a proper disposer

If it has reached that stage then it is almost certainly causing the output from the tank to be well above what is an acceptable, or legal, level.

My neighbours has an old concrete

The Environment Agency will almost certainly force your neighbour to take action. Have you asked them to inspect it?

Peter Crosland