anyone got a septic tank

[sillysausagesarnie]

that doesnt need to be emptied??

when we moved into our cottage the people we bought from said it was a soakaway and didnt need to be emptied. We had blocked drains about three years ago (having lived here 1 yr) and had it emptied and drains cleared.

Now we have drain backed up and slow draining.

Having read up everything says all tanks should be emptied yearly.

anyone shed some light?

I have had 3 different houses each with septic tank. They all had soakaways, but still needed emptying every year! HTH?

We have one and a soakaway and TBH I don't really understand it either. We've lived here for 3 years and it was our first expereince of one. We have had it emptied twice. From what I understand the 'sludge' will eventually need to be emptied - how often depends on the size of tank and occupants but the 'liquid' will run into the soakaway. Heavy rain may effect the efficiency of the soakaway as liquid will be slower to soak away.

What happened to ours most recently was a blockage just before the run into the tank (but we didn't realise at the time). Once we managed to dislodge it the water started draining away. Are you able to have a poke about in the pipes to see if there's a blockage. Ours was a mound of toilet paper (thank you DD1 I suspect!) and congealed fat eventhough I'm careful not to put any down the drains. Try not to call out the waste people on a weekend or Bank Holiday though - it will be expensive!

Thanks folks!

The folk that lived here before us had been here over ten yrs and never had it emptied!! No idea how they got away with that!!

We had a look in the tank today , i have never seen it before but dh has. It was horrible. There appeared to be sludge (shit soup dh called it yuk!) right up to the top but not overflowing. Does this mean it needs to be emptied? i thought so and thought it was fairly obvious but dh said when it was emptied it looked like that too

Anyone any idea of cost to empty it? I think when we had it done a few years back it was around 200 quid but cant really remember. Not a job i would fancy puke puke puke....

ours doesn't need emptied. its a bio disc, it filters out through reed beds.

If you are using bleach and other cleaning stuff that isn't compatible with septic tanks they will compromise its' efficiency. The septic tank works because the bacteria "eat" the contents, but if you are using bleachy things then that kills the bacteria.

There are 5 of us in this household so we have a fairly hefty water usage, and in the 6 years we have been here it's been emptied twice (and once was because the heavy rain in 2007 filled it up!), so with careful management it should last more than a year. It is possible that the soakaway element of it has failed, which would involve a fairly hefty bill to replace.

I would get it emptied, your drains rodded and start again using environmentally friendly cleaning stuff (as much as possible - w/up liquid, bath & loo cleaning stuff is what I am careful about), and see how you go. If it fills up again quickly then I suggest you get someone to look at your soakaway.

The cost of emptying depends on the volume to be removed. I think that we pay about £150, but it would be more if there was above a certain volume of 'sludge'.

Ecover is good for being septic tank compatible.

As far as I know all septic tanks have to be emptied from time to time. It depends on how many people use it as to how often. They all should have a soakaway attached to them that lets the excess water soak away into the ground, but the solid sludge gradually fills up the tank and needs emptying.

Not sure about the price but probably a few hundred.

We just had ours emptied at a cost of £295. It would have been £130, but our drive is too steep and twisty for the tanker to get up to the house so they sent a 'mini gulper' [yuck] that ferried smaller tanks of sludge down to the tanker at the bottom of the drive. The cost was for up to 1000 litres - anything over that cost more as they have to pay to dispose of it.

It was the first time in well over 10 years it had been emptied but then we have compost toilets outside so it doesn't get much poo in it!

But do check for any blockage in the pipes - we recently had one and it was congealed fat that had completely closed the pipe off. It was gross, but strangley satisfying when it cleared after about 4 hours rodding

We have a septic tank that doesn't need emptying. It has a sand filter then soak away.

You do need to "feed" it regularly though. We are in France and the septic tank stuff is sold in the supermarkets next to the bog cleaner.

If it is backing up then it may be blocked so would need to be emptied. Cost here is 150?.

My parents have theirs emptied once every 8-10 years, I think it depends on the type of tank.

Are you sure it's a septic tank and not a cess pit? We have a cess pit , which is just a tank where all waste goes, loos, washing machine, gutters from house etc. at the top of the tank there is a run off drain which in our case, goes into a soak away. How often it needs emptying depends on how much water goes through it and how efficient your soaks way is. We,re a family of 4, so plenty of washing etc and it needs emptying every 3-5 years . It costs £90 and we,re in Kent.