Septic tank problem

Hi I have a septic tank at my property, the problem is the soak away doesn't appear to be working very well. It will drain away but very slowly, this resuslts in us having to have the tank emptyed twice since april!!!!! any one got any ideas on a way of solving this?

Cheers

Jon

Reply to
jon ringwood
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There isn't a simple answer. Either the soakaway is of inadequate capacity for the tank, or effluent from the tank isn't getting into the soakaway.

The second one is easy to check/eliminate. The first one is more complicated. Many factors affect the ability of a soakaway to handle the effluent, but the main ones are surface area and soil type.

Is this an old setup, or is it recent? Has it always been problematic?

Reply to
Grunff

Install a new drainage field.

Sorry.

Reply to
Huge

Reply to
jon ringwood

Soakaways clog with time, and tree roots can damage pipes and roots then block them.

Either live with it, or spend about 5-7k on a new klargester type system

Don't waste money on fixing it IMHO.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

The second is probably supposed to be a sand filter bed and possibly aerator/distributor. The system here was like that but the filter bed had long since become completely clogged and the aerator/distributor mechanism corroded into brown lace and fallen in...

We had the first chamber removed and replaced with a larger one and a new soakaway installed.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Easier said than done! Had the same sort of problem recently. You need a new consent from the Environment Agency for this. They may well insist on a mini treatment plant that has a much lower level of pollutant output than a septic tank if you are in an sensitive area.

Reply to
Peter Crosland

Why, what happened? Septic tanks only need emptying when the "solids" get near the outlet - I have mine done every 18 months.

Reply to
Nige

Hi,

Sounds like the soakaway is gunged up which shouldn't happen, normally it is separate to the tank and only deals with liquids as solids are caught by the tank. A bit more of a description of what you have would help.

cheers, Pete.

Reply to
Pete C

It sounds like the soakaway is clogged, probably because somebody didn't empty it in time before.

Assuming you have an adequate supply of water, get it completely emptied and then use a pressure washer with a drain clearing jet down each part of the soakaway to loosen things up, then completely fill with water and hope it floats back out into the main chamber.

Reply to
G&M

In My expereince, you are in troubble, if anyone complains the Env Agency will be round ........

If your luck is in, you may simply have a blocked pipe, which can be cleared, if the soakaway is just not adequate, then you have to make a new one. Its not hard, but it takes a bit of time to get the correct permissions from the Environment Agency ..... Soakaways are not expensive, it all depends upon how cheep you can get an excavator, and how far from a quarry you are (stone cost) ........

I found the best source of info was the building regs, lots of nice little pictures explain it all ......

Rick

Reply to
Rick Dipper

If the thing is old, it may simply be too small for the current load you are putting into it. If this is the case, I recommend you spend the money and get it right. Mine cost 7K fitted (A DIY job). I put in packaged sewage treatment system (from APCO) had to lay 200m of pipe to the river, absoutly no odors from it - ever, which is good as its only 15m from the house, its brilliant thing.

The Env Agency came and did a site visit, and recommended a solution, which was good, as I have a very awkward site, on top of a cliff.

Rick

Reply to
Rick Dipper

The mini sewage treatment units can empty straight into a river (mine does), I have a "consent to discharge". Your friends kids can then see where their wee goes, and you tell them that it goes 40 miles downstream to the city, where they pump the water out, and drink it ...... then watch their faces, when they work out its the city they live in.

Rick

Reply to
Rick Dipper

We had this problem once. Answer was to get contractor in to lay 2 new runs of soakaway pipe. Fortunately we have a lot of ground so wasnt a problem finding new routes.

Cost m>

Reply to
Gel

Sound like someone may have converted an old (single chamber) cesspit into a septic tank setup (with two chambers).

The second chamber is a settling tank, which is there to allow residual solids to settle-out, so that the final discharge is mainly water. The discharge outlet is fairly high up the tank, so it is correct for that tank to run full all the time.

Are you saying then that the water level in the second chamber is running above the level of the discharge pipe?

If so it could be a soakaway problem (Soddes Law say it will be), or the discharge pipe may be broken or blocked. Either cause is a spade job, start at the chamber and dig along the outlet pipe to find the problem.

I was lucky, just three feet away from the tank I found the parting in the pipe.... caused by someone (at some time in the past) dumping large quantities of soil over the top of the pipe run. This forced the pipe sideways until it broke. The two ends were about a foot apart.

Reply to
Tony Williams

Tie a knot in it?

(:-)

Graham

Reply to
Graham Wilson

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