Does anyone have a septic tank? If so how much does it cost you annually and would it put you off buying a house?

[FreeBritnee]

We’re looking at a rural property and saw in the details that it it has a septic tank. Would this put you off? DP seems pretty unphased but I’m quite horrified plus it’s an extra cost. I can see it would need emptying 1-2 times a day and the suggested cost in around £200 each time.

Does that sound about right?

Unfazed

Not a day🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ A year 🤭

We have one, it gets emptied every two or three years or so, it's really no problem at all..

€60 a year, and no, it wouldn't. Ours has been no trouble so far.

We've never emptied ours. It's been at least 20 years.

Just don't use bleach.

We have one and it gets emptied probably every other year? Depends how many people you have living in the house. Can’t even remember the cost of having it emptied we do it so infrequently! We are just careful of what we put down there, avoid bleach and harsh chemicals and go for eco friendly cleaners. There’s an exhaust pipe coming out of it but you can’t smell anything. It’s honestly a non-event!

I lived in a rural place with a septic tank and tip was told it needed doing every three months. I think someone was taking the piss though. I got it done twice in the year I lived there alone and both times the tank driver said as I was on my own I could have done once in the year.

We share a septic tank with our neighbours. I get it emptied twice a year. You’ll probably need to have it emptied once or twice a year. They’ll come in a big tanker and suck it all out, really wouldn’t put me off a house. You won’t have a sewerage charge from the water company.

We have one which services our house and our neighbours. I've been here 8 years and we've emptied it twice. It is a large one though and it's a couple hundred to empty it.

It really isnt any sort of problem. Honestly, it really makes no difference. You save in the sewage cost on your council tax anyway so it offsets the cost of emptying it.

Oh! We've had it emptied 3 times! I forgot we just got it done a couple months ago.
But yeah. It's a non-issue.

We had a septic tank , just paid to go on mains. It’s not to bad, ours was emptied once a year. Just need to watch what wash cycle you use on washing machine etc

We had one when we had a B&B. There could be up to 12 people (including ourselves) in the house. Had it emptied twice a year at most.

Our septic tank was cheaper than our water bills now we've gone on to the mains. But it broke and would have cost thousands to repair, or fewer thousands to connect to the mains.
The repair wasn't guaranteed to solve the problem so we went for the other option.
A septic tank wouldn't put me off, but I'd be prepared for future maintenance/repair bills.

It depends on what type and how big it is.. it its a 'water treatment system' type one it needs an annual service and emptying every 5 years or so. If its a tank type one frequency depends on size. Our last 3 houses have all had them and never beem an issue. If you are looking at rural properties many many of them won't be on mains drainage

Yes, we moved into a house with one in November stupidly without getting it surveyed separately (having other disputes so decided against) it plainly needed replacing within weeks of moving in so £20000 later we have a working system.

Definitely get it surveyed. Overall though it’s cheaper than mains sewerage. I grew up with one. It wouldn’t put me off but make sure it’s working.

As pp have said.
Check with your water company too. Ours will do one annual empty for free.

With a septic you have to be a bit careful what you put down the drain as you dont want to kill or overwhelm the bacteria living in it that break down the poo etc.

Dont use lots of bleach and chemicals all at once
Dont put lots of oils or fats down
Dont put tonnes of water down at the same time (if someone is showering dont run the dishwasher, washing machine and flush all the loos at the same time!)
NEVER put stuff in that wont biodegrade (earbuds, panty liners, wet wipes)

You can get an additive to chuck down that encourages good bacteria if you want to be extra careful

Technically if your leach field is working well you shouldn’t need to pump it, but most people do anyway as its difficult to know if your leach field isnt working until it doesnt…and that is a big problem.

You should get it inspected before you buy to make sure its in good working order as the pipes can get crush/cracked/break down over time and also that it is sized correctly for the house/number of bathrooms

Septics are really expensive to install/replace, so if it is close to the end of life get several quotes on replacing it before buying the house

Oh and the last thing is dont drive over it (tanks and field) with anything heavy (lawnmower is fine) and dont grown anything bigger than a small bush over it or the roots might get into it. So if its located in a silly place, it might make it difficult to renovate or access your garden with a digger etc

There was a change in regulation relatively recently in respect of the older style ones...I would want to be very clear what type of system it is otherwise you may have to perform expensive upgrades to meet current standards.
In my last house our septic tank needed emptying twice a year, £120 a time. Probably similar to what I now pay on mains sewage.
As pps have said you do have to be careful what you put down the drains and toilet so if you are a fan of a daily toilet bleach it may not be the best option!

erm, ours has been emptied once in 25 years. Normal four person household. We tend not to use bleach

we're in a rural property with a septic tank.. it has a soakawy for grey water so its mainly containing the solids waste. We just had it emptied, first time in 10 years and the guy said it wasn't that full.. so its not a issue really. That said as a pp said, there is a change in regulations so you do need to get it surveyed.

@AMalTiempoBuenaCara

Those changes arent retroactive though. You only need to meet new standards if you do any works to any of it or make a choice to replace it.Then it all needs to he changed to be current standards.
If it's in working order then you sont need to change it out.

Oh! I think I'm thinking of different regulations. There was a change which meant upgrades had to be done by 2020, so they should already be done if required. If not, they need to be done if selling so they should doubly have alrrady been done. But yes, get a survey! Ignore my previous comment!

Depends on the size of the tank tbh. The previous owners of our place got some cowboy who put in backwards and it was tiny so we replaced it with a sewage treatment unit. That also needs emptying every so often.

You don’t pay the sewage component of your water bill which offsets the emptying cost too.

Had one at my last house - lived there for 33 years and never had it emptied in all that time! Properly looked after, treated with respect and no bleach or other nasties chucked down it and they are not the gift from Lucifer which many perceive them to be. Also have one at my current house and that looks after itself too and does not need emptying. But, caveat, I am a one person household, am careful about water useage and waste (yellow, let it mellow, brown, flush it down principle), and both tanks I have owned happen to be old fashioned soak away systems and thus contain only solids which break down to virtually nothing with good bacterial action.

@TheWoleb yes it was the 2020 ones I am thinking about... I would want reassurances that the seller had addressed upgrades if necessary. Given the cost (and presumed complexity of following up all owners of non compliant tanks) I would hazard a guess there are still non-compliant tanks out there? I am not in any way an expert on this topic though! Just remember it being a conversation had with out septic tank man and buyers!