Septic tank - should I avoid?

[1805]

We're in the process of buying a house, and it's come to light that 8 properties share a septic tank which is sited in another property along our row of houses.
This worries me.
Should I be worried?
Would you be worried?

Obviously we need to check out the legalities, fee's involved and maintenance issues, but how often do septic tanks get blocked?

I want to live in the house, but should we walk away????

Spooky 1805- I've just logged on to MN to ask the exact same question!! We saw our solicitor today who pointed out the septic tank.. We only share with one property though.

Sorry- no help but I will watch for replies!! Good luck in your purchase..

We share one with 5 properties, it is not really an issue and is emptied about once a year, costs us about £50, but as we dont pay for water removal on water bill, works out about the same cost as a house on mains drainage if this makes sense.

Never had one but I used to be a sewerage worker. I can't imagine that a tank would get blocked anymore than a normal sewer. With a tank you have a pipe leading to a tank. Normally you have a pipe (which is your responsibility) leading to a mains sewer. Either could get blocked.

Id want to know how often it's emptied, how much it costs and is it enforceable that everyone pays.

Remember your water rates should be cheaper.

There are guidelines about not using certain detergents/wash powder I think but not sure.

We had one in the house I grew up in. Never a problem. Although you have to be mindful of the amount of bleach / cleaning products used.

Septic tanks work by using bacteria to break down waste. Bleach kills the good ones as well as the bad ones.

My dad did used to get grumpy with 4 teenage girls flushing sanitary products too as it blocked up (but I suspect this would have happened with regular mains sewerage too).

we have our own one. You use it exactly like normal sewerage, which means nothing goes down the toilet except body waste and toilet paper. Same as mains sewerage. Sanitary products should never be flushed.

hasn't needed emptying in years although no doubt it will at some point.

we don't use bleach although there is a bit in dishwasher tablets. But no-one needs to use bleach anyway. Also better to use washing liquid not powder, and don't chuck coffee grounds down the sink.

A shared one needs investigating because if any one of the other 8 (!) doesn't know the rules, it WILL block/overflow repeatedly. So assume it will need regular emptying and maintenance, and find out costs. Shouldn't be huge.

Not that it is necessary but in our defence (of flushing sanitary products), it was the 70s and we were teenagers who didn't listen!!

sorry - I did note it was a few years back when many didn't know better!

Not offended, just excusing myself!

We have one, share it with 4 other houses but it's on our land so we take responsibility for emptying it and split the bill between the 4 houses. It costs about £100 a year - so £25 each and our water rates are reduced. We've been here 8 years and never had an issue. I was unsure when we bought the house as I knew nothing about them but it really hasn't been an issue.

We share one with 3 other houses, it's been a nightmare for us:

Spec for tank was wrong, leading to water company emptying frequently. Searches before we bought suggested a c. £400 annual bill which is more than mains sewerage, but manageable. We were then landed with a backdated £6k bill between the 4 houses, which we're still paying off. Plus fines for non payment, lots of council meets, angry letters etc.

We've got our own bio digester now which is working brilliantly.

OK. Thanks people.

Is there any paperwork we should ask to see from the seller?