To ask neighbour not to use their 'tiny house'

[Notnowjo]

My neighbour has a huge house and a small additional dwelling in her back garden, we think it's used when family and friends come to stay. It's pretty small like a studio so couldn't really be lived in long term. It's not attached to the main house. She has 5 bedrooms, multiple bathrooms, 1 teenage boy so space isn't an issue

We discovered yesterday that all the dirty sewage & water from this studio has been draining across our property for the last 3-4 months.
It filters through a large garden (hers then ours) and our retaining wall then across our garden (gravity!)

It has taken her over 2 months to get a draining guy to look at it, it took him about 15 minutes to find the issue (yes we have been continually reminding her)

This morning I'm disappointed to see another stream of water across our patio, I think they shouldn't use the water in the studio until the problem is fixed.

Am I being unreasonable to ask her not to use the studio?

Tell her that it needs fixing immediately and the space cannot be used until its fixed.
You are also looking for her to make good your garden - do you know if the watrt is foul or clean? If foul the your garden needs clearing and cleaning.

If you don't see any action in the next 7 days then contact environmental health as this is a health issue.

Have you been in touch with The Enviromental Health departent. When you say drainage, do you mean a plumber I would have thought what they are doing is illegal.

Id contact the council to see if the building even has planning permission. I knew some one who built a similar tiny house in their garden without ever informing the council and rented it to a lodger.

Definitely contact environmental health to inform them raw sewage is being discharged from their property onto yours.

Are you serious?

Her sewage is on your property and she knows it and continues on.

Furious wouldn't cover it.

Report her and that poxy shack to everyone.

Film it so you have proof.

This is something that I would really be upset over.

Are you sure it’s sewage actually? Or just water that’s meant to drain into a soakaway in their garden that hasn’t been installed properly? It seems extreme that anyone fitting a toilet wouldn’t link it up to an actual sewer.

Phone the water and sewerage company for your area as well as the Environment Agency.

Clean or sewage water?

Sorry have to rush out
it's the drains so sewage, bath shower clean drinking water that isn't drunk

isn't it everything

this has just started the house has been there for years so she has holes in her pipes

She's not literally run the drain out into our retaining wall.

I'm actually also worried about the damage to the wall plus retaining 3 months of s&^t which will all come tumbling down on our house when it fails

of course you’re NBU, I’d lose my mind!

I think of just go straight to environmental health and planning

That is absolutely disgusting and unacceptable.

You need a solicitor for trespass and party wall issues now.

Call Environmental Health usually at local Council.
They will inspect and can order them to stop using whatever is cashing the problem. They’ll be fined if they don’t comply. I have experience of a similar issue and EH were on it within hours of the call, took it very seriously. If there is sewage as in excrement it’s a health hazard.

Causing not cashing.

I hate these sheds "summer houses" they're almost always used for people to live in full or part time. Unless you live on a country estate with acres of land you don't need a "summer house". All these people with one in an ordinary tiny garden, it's so unnecessary. I hope your neighbour gets in trouble for this OP, her behaviour is dispicable.

I would contact the council. Perhaps her tiny house isn’t legally built. She may need to remove the bastard thing.

Thanks guys sorry to post and run.

We've lived here a few years, studio was there before we moved in. We're overseas & the last few months have been very, very, very wet.

We have a huge retaining wall, a short while ago something changed in the way the water was draining from the retaining wall, once we were sure we spoke to neighbour and said do you have a leak in your pipes? Her house is next door but a lot higher (wall is maybe 10 feet)

We've been chasing her for a couple of months, we were told she had to go through a number of plumbers eventually one came round chucked some dye down the drains and it came hosing out at the bottom of our wall within a few minutes.
He told us it was 'dirty' water. Doesn't all 'dirty' water drain off your property through the same drain ie shower water, toilet flush, washing machine, dishwasher and water that drains away when you rinse out a mug or wash your hands or whatever? Eventually it all drains out through 1 drain?

She has a hole in her pipes, as a result water has filtered down through her property and into our garden and is now coming out of the bottom of this wall.

I assumed once she realised what was going on they would not use water in the studio, from the speed the dye came out I'm guessing there is now a pile of poo and toilet paper with effectively a pathway through the middle that the water drains straight out through.

I also assumed they would stop using water in the studio?

Thanks for all the comments, I'm on to our insurance company in a couple of hours. I'm totally grossed out we have cats and kids so this has been traipsed all over my flooring for the last couple of months. I was disappointed to see a stream of water crossing my garden this morning (it's raining but the water is now so obvious it's like we have a stream)

Grey water and sewage are very different things. You need to politely have it out with her as you are concerned your property is being damaged but intimately I think you may to ask your house insurance cover to address it.

Sewage is the excrement in the toilet , is this draining into your land? If so call planning and environmental health ASAP.
Grey water - dirty washing up water hand washing water - I would have a chat, send a formal letter ,contact planning if no improvement but try and manage it in a more friendly way.
Not sure you can ban her from using her posh shed, can only ask her not to use the loo or sink and threaten letter from solicitor about sewage if this is what is bring discharged.

Are you in Victoria? Then get onto your council now. Right now. It might be that the septic tank has never been emptied but it might be something else. Whatever it is, it needs sorting out today. Then get onto planning and talk about planning permission with a failed septic system. But council health first.

Mm.. in a house, then eventually, yes, the grey water (sinks, bath, shower) would be directed to the foul drain (toilets) and out into the sewer.

So in my house the foul drain from our toilet runs down the back of the house (and up as the pipe vents higher up) and then into the foul drain a few feet into the yard.
The grey water drain from upstairs joins the foul drain down pipe on the back of the house, but the greywater from the kitchen downstairs joins the pipe in the yard at a manhole cover.

Then that drain runs to the sewer which has a manhole cover at the end of my yard (but not every house in my row has one of those, so if there was something wrong in there, im the access point to the sewer).

If you were building a small studio with both grey water and foul, theres a few ways to do it.

One would be to put in a macerating toilet if the sewer access point or foul drain access point is uphill from the toilet - these grind up solid waste and then a pump pushes them uphill to the outlet point.

Or you'd put in a toilet with normal plumbing to drain into a suitable outlet.

Outlets could be the foul drain, direct to the sewer or to a septic tank (but chances are if they have a septic tank, so would you so you'd know that).

It is highly unlikely they have intentionally plumbed the toilet into a greywater soakaway, because whilst water would still drain, the solids would not and it would back up under their garden/property and absolutely STINK.

I suspect they've plumbed the toilet in properly, but the greywater to the soakaway and it isn't done properly or its not really up to the capacity needed when the place is in use... or they have a leak they are unaware of.

This - solicitor letter now explaining your frustration and the environmental health implications for you and the lack of a prompt response from them - send a strongly worded letter if not a solicitor letter - and send it recorded delivery then contact environmental health urgently and the council again by email or recorded delivery. Stress your attempts to resolve it and the lack of response and include any reports you have. She needs to cover the costs of all your surveys and don’t forget you may have legal cover via your insurance

I’m guessing Wellington - extremely wet weather and a retaining wall?!
Definitely get onto the council asap. Have a look to see if you can find the planning permission for the studio online as well.