Septic tank upgrade.

Yes, if it is extremely bad, and the perptrator does nothing, and they find out about it.

In my case, the amount of pollution my old septic tank produced was about

0.001% of the pollution caused by all the deer, foxes, dogs and so on who crap all over the countryside and indeed my back garden round here.

Nevertheless they made me put in a Klargerster for a 'new build' - which I was happty to do frankly, because although the occasional whiff from the old system is nothing like as bad as what cones off the Cambridge sewage works on a warm summer day, I didn't want it anyway.

Cess pits - as opposed to septic tanks - are a different matter. They really are a health hazard and te EA is right to go after them.

Most old septic tanks are rather poor, but they are a thousand times better than a cess pit.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher
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What constitutes 'discharging into a watercourse' is open to interpretation. In my case the EA defined that an old dry ditch that did not actually connect to any water course with any kind of running water flow in any kind of weather constituted a 'water course'

And there is a world of difference between a septic tank doing such and a cess pit doing such.

I am al for getting rid of any possible sources of pollyrtion, espceailally if its as simple, effective and as cheap as a Klargester is...but the EA can be a bunch of pettifogging morons sometimes.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

New land drains? Hmm. Don't; seew why you need those. A klargester will dump straight into a watercourse LEGALLY.

Its like my efforts to go with single glazing. Yes, its possible, yes, after getting a firm of heating engineers to do the overall energy calculations, I was able to do it, but the hassle factor and the cost of doing it were not worth it apart from the fact that I wanted S/G lead paned windows for aesthetic reasons.

A klalrgetster is relatively cheap, will tick all the EA boxes, and is a standard fitment. Go for it.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Ah, I'm not making myself clear. There is no reliable watercourse available. :-(.

I had a gentleman from APCO to look at it this afternoon. He suggested the MANTAIR septic tank upgrade, which is basically an insert to an existing tank that works by blowing air through the contents to obtain aerobic decomposition. It's claimed to meet the EA requirements, costs in region of £2.7k installed and so appears to be a net solution if it works. Still might need to address the drainage though.

Any thoughts onthis?

SR

Reply to
SR

Blowing air is all you need to get aerobic decomposition working.

I understand the need for a soakway now...unless you live on a slope.

Hire a digger and have fun landscapeing the garden :-)

There are possibly reliability issues with what the man suggests - ISTR someone here posting up something negative about this solution.

Can't remember.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

You really need to address the overall problem. Whatever system you choose will need building regulations approval and part of that will be EA consent. That will mean the design and approval of an approverd soakaway. Building control will not pass one without the other and that will also require EA consent.

Peter Crosland

Reply to
Peter Crosland

Eh? The current land drains have been there for ages. The only issue is the dodgy and obviously illegal extension onto a partially blocked covered ditch by the previous owner. If this is removed, as I intend to because I like to be legal (and it's clearly not taking much - or indeed any - water anyway), then the system is restored to what it was. So surely I don't need building regulations and EA consent to upgrade an existing system that has drained onto my own land for decades?

SR

Reply to
SR

The fact that the system has been there for a long time and that you own the land is not relevant. Anyone who pollutes the enviroment or allows it to be polluted is breaching the law. Making any material changes to the system does require EA and BR connsent.

Peter Crosland

Reply to
Peter Crosland

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