Any tips for a soon to be owner of a septic tank?

[Elmrosie]

We've just had an offer accepted on a house in a lovely village, with great views BUT it has a septic tank. Neither I nor DH have ever lived in a house with one before. Does anyone have any good tips for looking after it?

Try not to fall in

Septic tanks are great as you have low water/sewage bills! As the tank relies on bacteria to break down the 'solids', I would recommend avoiding using quilted or recycled toilet paper, bleach, and biological washing powders. No sanitary items or wipes down the loo either. Make sure the person that comes to empty has a licence, we had a dodgy farmer offering to do it round here and he messed up my neigbour's tank.

Don't put chemicals, paint, fat, sanitary products etc down your drain or toilet. Get it emptied every 3 years or so.

Nice cheap water bills, but you need to find out how big it is. They're a few hundred quid to have emptied.

My grandad has one and he uses Ecover cleaning products which apparently are all he can put down there.

Septic tanks really aren’t a big deal. We’ve had local farmers empty ours decades without a problem. I’d only use thin toilet paper, never quilted. It breaks down quicker. Never use cleaning products with bleach - look for products like ecover that are septic tank friendly.

Sooo many of the properties I look after have septic tanks - honesty you'll be fine. Is it a detox tank or a like a klargester plant? The ones that properly digest are great nowadays.
Just use the right products and don't flush anything down the loo that is thicker than thin loo roll! Aaaand you might want to remind your house guests of the same!
I was mortified to find out that my parents didn't buy a dream Cotswold house in the 90's because of fear of the septic tank!!

Septic tank not detox tank sorry

Can you recind your bid?

Ensure you ask the solicitor to confirm it will be emptied before you move in.
Find out how often it usually emptied and how many are using it to give you an idea of capacity and find out the cost to empty it.

@Inaquandry19

Don't put chemicals, paint, fat, sanitary products etc down your drain or toilet. Get it emptied every 3 years or so.

This is the case for normal sewage systems too, as well as septic tanks. All of these are bad news for our sewers.

We don’t worry at all about what we put down ours.
We just get it emptied every 18 months or so, or when it get whiffy, and that costs about £150

The way my kids treat the toilet - there’s no way I’m not using bleach!

I've lived with mine for 20 years and have never ever given it a second thought. It sorts itself out and my water bills are super cheap. Never needed to empty it. Never thought about what I put down the loo.

The only change we made when moving to a house with a tank was ditching bleach. We wouldn't put wipes, sanitary stuff etc down the toilet anyway.
They are remarkably low maintenance- we have ours emptied every 2 years or so and it costs I think £170ish.

They're fine but I'd check the age and state of repair.

Ours is a complete nightmare, always overflowing, always stinky and probably needs digging out and a new one putting in at many £££££
Agree with others, nowt down loo apart from thin loo roll

We have one. Been here 3 years and no idea when it was emptied before that. Just had it emptied, guy said it was pretty full with a capacity of about 3000litres. Cost £270 (had 2 quotes, north east scotland). Absolutely no problems with it before then, never smelled (although good distance from the house). We did buy bacteria tablet things that you're supposed to put down monthly but i think I've used 3 since we moved in.

Also we use Tesco quilted toilet paper, no issues. We use normal cleaning products. Though i have always been careful with fat etc down drains (because well duh) and equally would never put wipes, sanitary products etc down any toilet because again duh!

Get a survey of it before you buy the house. If it's a cess pit style that's very different to a sewage treatment plant. Check the permit to discharge if so.

I would never buy a house with one without a full survey on the system. Take this from someone who has spent thousands rectifying issues with drainage field failure and new septic tank needed plus sewage treatment plant!

If they work well they are fine but don't accept the owners word that it's fit for purpose

No problems with ours. Very cheap water bills. Emptied every couple of years. No issues. No smells etc.

I wonder why mine never needs emptying given what people are saying here?
My understanding was that the whole way they work is to leave alone and they sort themselves out.
If ever I open the lid - done it once or twice, I can't even see anything.

Yours probably doesn’t need emptying because it works!!!

We do have ours emptied. It’s under a manhole cover in the drive. It’s a septic tank and soakaway. The solids can remain but they probably won’t cause any issue for several years. Ours is now 32 years old. We just prefer to get it emptied out around once a year.

You can use bleach. Or any cleaning product. We have lovely quilted loo paper - I’ve never bought anything else. We don’t put fat into drains nor baby or face wipes. So cleaning products are fine.

If it’s emptied regularly, it won’t smell. If it overflows or smells it could be a cess pit. Or totally shot! It’s definitely not a working septic tank and soakaway.

You cannot discharge a soakaway into a field drain or water course. The water authority will have strict regulations. The soakaway usually discharges deep into the earth. So I would ensure the septic tank and soakaway is inspected and hopefully the vendors will be able to give details about it. If you have to rebuild it - just do it! You will need permission from your water authority but you then get totally worry free sewage arrangements. It’s a price worth paying. No house in our village has mains sewers. Thats not unusual in the countryside.

You shouldn’t have to empty it that often if it’s working properly. The idea is that the bacteria breaks down the waste. That’s why you shouldn’t use bleach because it kills the bacteria that you need as well. We don’t empty ours very often either.

I've a septic tank and soakaway, had it emptied once in the eight years I've lived here. I use bleach to clean the loos and quilted toilet paper. It cost 330 quid to empty two septic tanks.

It's common for septic tanks not to be up to date with modern standards, as standards have changed. If that's the case you need to find out and negotiate on it as part of the price as it can be v expensive to rectify.