Septic tank?!

[Dalooah]

Can anyone tell me anymore about the good and the bad about having a septic tank for your house?

I'm a sceptical about it all!

What do you mean sceptical? You only get one if not on mains sewage. It’s no hassle, I have a contract to have it emptied regularly. No sewage bills from thr water board,

Saying your sceptical is like saying you’re sceptical about mains sewage

Oh and you can’t use bleach. Past that it’s no more hassle than mains.

You pay a regular standing order. A lorry comes (you don’t need to be there). Lorry men do their stuff and disappear. Takes them about 10 minutes. And that’s it. It does pong when they are doing it to be fair.

I have had one at my last 3 houses. They should not be a problem if they drain correctly (mostly in the rural areas they drain into neighbouring land) and are enclosed (unlike cess pits).

They do not need emptying all that often - you know when there is a problem by the smell. You will find when you sell new buyers insist of emptying which is not expensive (about £150) and done in a jiffy by a local firm.
Be careful what you put down there - use non-bio detergent and no harsh chemicals as it upsets the balance.
The good news is - you don't have to pay sewage charges with your water bill.

Ensure it is a septic tank and not a cesspit or one of those mini water treatment works.
Septic tank - very easy as pp have said.
Cesspit - much like above, but can be affected by rainwater and ground water levels and a pain to replace.
Water treatment works - neighbour says it’s very easy and hassle free, so long as you watch what chemicals you use, ideally non whatsoever, and you are fairly handy and maintenance if the pump goes tits up.

If you're looking at buying a house with one, get it checked properly.

If it isn't working properly and it is well within your boundary you will probably get away with it. Environment agency/NRW don't go out looking for problem septic tanks (way to many of them) but you could come to the attention of them if a neighbour reports you.

If you come to replace it, the general expectation is that you should get a modern sewage treatment tank rather than a septic tank (although I'm pretty sure this isn't law anywhere in that UK yet).

Other than that, go gentle on the bleach, no solids other than toilet tissue (and beware of moist toilet wipes), be very careful not to put too much paint down if you are decorating.

It's a damn sight cheaper than being on mains drains!

@Bluntness100

What do you mean sceptical? You only get one if not on mains sewage. It’s no hassle, I have a contract to have it emptied regularly. No sewage bills from thr water board,

Saying your sceptical is like saying you’re sceptical about mains sewage

Sorry! We're looking at houses and one has a sceptic tank, hence, sceptical.

Oh it was a play on words?

They are fine honestly. I’ve mine emptied on a contract every six months, some folks wait years. Mines not huge. I don’t use bleach. I do use bio laundry powder but there is just two/three of us here. I don’t even know when the guy turns up to empty it past a bill comes through the post after it’s done. It’s no biggie.

We've got one and it's the first house we've ever lived in that has one.
Apart from not using bleach, and having cheaper water bills, I don't notice!

See if your local sewerage company has plans to bring mains drainage to the area. It could save you having to replace a faulty set up.

Make sure your solicitor checks out the installation details, etc. There is a lot of boring legislation about septic tanks, especially (since 2020) the replacement of them, and where you can/can't discharge to. We had to replace the failed septic tank in our house with a water treatment package, which works a million times better but was an additional cost.

Other than that, they're not that much hassle - as everyone's said, don't use bleach, don't flush random stuff down there, and check the microbes are doing their thing every so often. And if the discharge spreaders go into a field, make sure it's not one that is frequently and energetically ploughed so the spreaders break and turn your septic tank into a cess pit [bitter].

We have one and it's is no bother at all. Our water bill is tiny as we don't pay sewerage (and have never been put on a water meter) and the tank costs us about £100 a year to get emptied by a local farmer. It has always been very straightforward.

We have a septic tank in our cottage in rural Canada.

As far as I know, it needs no maintenance, with the only solids being poo and toilet tissue.

The only restriction that I have come across is that we cannot put a lot of pressure on the land above it. For example, when we had to pitch several tents, we had to avoid that area.

The lanesfordrains.co.uk site has some helpful explanations about dos and don’ts and legislation. @Dalooah