Septic Tanks.....Pro s and cons?

Brocks

Brocks

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Shes found a house with a septic tank as opposed to plumped in sewage drains...been reading up on this and it looks like you are limited in what can goes down the toilet......So anyone have one and what are the pros and cons?
 
Brocks said:
Shes found a house with a septic tank as opposed to plumped in sewage drains...been reading up on this and it looks like you are limited in what can goes down the toilet......So anyone have one and what are the pros and cons?
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What do you want to go down the toilet?:thinking:

If your trying to flush a badger then you may have a problem as those buggers can hang on for a good while. You may have to give it a good shove.

But normal waste should be fine otherwise no one would have them
 
neil_g said:
to be honest i lived in a house with one for years, had no bother at all with it.

just need to get it emptied every now and again.
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No need to talk like that about the wife. She has got feeling yano :nono:
 
There are lots of houses using septic tanks with no problems. Providing you maintain the system correctly (mainly have sludge removed on regular basis) you should have no problems. You do need to be a little careful regarding the amount of bleach etc you allow into the system, but should be ok.

See this guide.
 
nigpd said:
That is the best laugh I've had all week. Nearly choked to death on my lunchtime egg & bacon sandwich
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I thank you kind sir i owe you one bacon sanwich :D
 
Pee, poo and paper can all go down safely enough.

Bleach is no good as it kills the micro organisams that help to break down the waste.

ATEOTD you shouldn't really be flushing more than this down a normal toilet anyway :shrug:
 
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Septic tanks are fine as long as thye are looked after and maintaned. They must have a drainage field (usually perforated pipe on a stone base trench system) that is capable of allowing the liquid fraction to soak to ground.

Essentially they work by separating the liquid and solid fractons of the waste and allowing the liquid fraction to soak away to ground. The bugs in the soil then treat this and by the time it reaches ground water level it is non polluting.

A couple of things to check;

Has the house and system had a percolation test done - this is essentially the test to see if the ground is capable of sustaining a soakaway. If it fails then the system wont work effectivley.

Has the system got an overflow into a ditch system - if so this is illegal and will need to be sorted.

The other option that you have is to replace the septic tank wiht a package treatment plant. The efluent that they produce is acceptable to be discharged to a watercourse should you have on available to you.

The Environment Agency website has all of the guidance notes and details on completeing the percolation tset but PM me if you need any specific guidance.

Cheers

Nick
 
So two teas one coffee and jaffas all round

:jaffa:
 
pepi1967 said:
So two teas one coffee and jaffas all round

:jaffa:
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sounds like a plan!




.... only on TP could a conversation about septic tanks turn to an offer of tea, coffee and jaffa cakes all round :lol:
 
coffee here too please. :)
 
Septic tank is that rhyming slang for something? :|
 
Con : if it's got a septic tank it's probably also not got mains gas.
 
Russ77 said:
Yes although a Tommy Tank is something entirely different ;)
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Ah yes a septic tank is under ground but a tommy tank is waist high :D
 
Thanks for all that....I've never seen so much pooh in one thread lol.

What i've read is that you can't use things like bleach so how do you clean a loo? Or unblock a sink?. Also how do you clean up after DIY jobs etc....?
 
You have to use Ecover (toilet) cleaning products, or other similar 'green' products, that are septic tank friendly. Apparently.
 
You can buy septic-tank friendly bleach. (Read the back of the packs)
 
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