General Chat

Thank you again, all of you for your replies and helpful advice. We do not have mains drainage as well here, just the septic tank. Our deeds revealed no drainage plans, and I might add, I am still waiting for the Council to get back to me with their three pennyworth.

We have always been careful with what we put down the WC, so I knew it couldn't be clothing, or rags, but am so thankful that it was emptied when it was, as we have had heavy rain in our area, and all the rainwater off the roof would have flooded our concrete area near the back door.

I have made a note of the Tarax product.

All is well that ends well.

Merlin..........beware ye mention of Blaster Bates..........

I was painfully ostracised a few years back.......for using a quote from the "Sevenoaks" tale.......you know, "..............."with a half stick of dynamite

Bob

glad it's now sorted :)

Glad you sorted your problem,For a good laugh, Look up a Record by "Blaster Bates" his method of clearing Septic Tanks will have you in stitches.**M**.

We had trouble with the drainage to our new church hall a few years ago and eventually found that the builders had not removed the plug that they put in to check the pipes for leakage!!!!

A set of rods & fittings are only about £20.........better than £200+ for D*no- R*d.......

We have a sixteen-person tank shared between 3 homes and have it emptied every year although there are only 10 of us in the three properties.
We just had a new soakaway built which cost just under £800 but thats ok as its split 3 ways and has n't been replaced in at least 20 years.
As for mains drains - no thank you. That would add the best part of a 1,000 pounds to the water bill here in devon. The tank costs less than 100 to be emptied, split between three.
You really have to be careful what goes in the drains / tank. No fat, no tampons or st's, no baby wipes and definately no nappies or incontinence pads.

Hi Angelsong, glad your problem seems sorted.

Just a few extra comments for you. We have a septic tank as there is no mains drainage here and we have it emptied and serviced every 12 to 18 months. The tank is big enough for 6 people and we are never more than 5.

The one we have is a Klargester; before that we had a 100 yr old septic tank that used to leak when full and that used to fill up when it rained so we were always having it emptied.

If you have mains drainage too why don't you have the septic tank capped off?

The deeds to all the houses in our road show all the soakaways. We had a new soakaway dug when the Klargester went in about 8 yeas ago and the holey pipe soon filled up with willow roots so that blocked the tank until we had that sorted.

But it's still cheaper than mains drainage!

Is that Tara with a kiss?- jl

Over here in France we put a packet of Tarax down our toilet every week and it helps keep ours working well. I also send packets over to my parents on the Isle of Man and they have noticed a big difference . There must be something similar sold in the UK ?
x Jill

Thanks everyone for your replies.

LOL all I wanted for Christmas......LOL a set of extralong drain rods


a friend of ours was having a similar problem with her drains, (communal)my rods werent long enough so she got a drain rod firm in..........
problem was...............
a wayward pair of calvin klien underpants

sorted......dunno who they belonged to though.......BOB

Glad its sorted....you can now look forward to 2011- jle

Angelsone, glad your have finally got it sorted.
Years ago, we had a problem with drains, and it was always me that sorted it out. I always wanted me own set of rods. Funny thing a gal should want.
Best of Luck
Julia in Derbyshire

An update on our septic tank troubles. Many phone calls to Environment Agency, the Council, the Water Board, etc were a waste of time and energy. Contacted the Clerk of the Parish Council, but he had no information on the drains where we li ve.

However, brainwave yesterday afternoon, decided to phone the previous owner's nephew who had lived here as a young lad. He was working nearby, came and had a look at the tank, and rodded it. Our drain rods were not long enough, so this morning at 8.30 am he returned with an extra set of rods, and BINGO, it all cleared. I can run water down the kitchen sink, I can flush the upstairs toilet, we can use the downstairs one, without watching the water level rise perilously near the top. Wonderful.

One thing he and the Clerk of the Council, who is a farmer said is that the water table is not high in our area.

We are buying a second set of drain rods when we go shopping tomorrow.

Right Maddie! Hope it isn't our neighbour's tank causing the problem. They are not known for their co-operation.

We are contacting the Clerk of the Parish Council after the Bank Holiday, to see if he has any old records of drain plans.

Our solicitor has checked our deeds and there is nothing relevant in them.

My freind has a septic tank and only needs it emptied every two years or so - but she lives on her won so its not a Family usuage. However, she found her was filling quicker the other year and had to have it emptied twice in a year. Someone inspected her tank and found a neighbours tank was overflowing into hers ...... she charged the neighbour for the repair, inspection and for one of the empties.

Bob - we have wondered about the rise in the water table, due to the rain and snow, but even in the floods three and a half years ago, we did not have the problem with water in the septic tank and inspection chambers. Two of our neighbours say their chambers are not retaining water.

is it possible that the water table has risen?
thus instead of soaking away, the water table is soaking in?

Bob

Most septic tanks and their soakaways have problems sooner or later, with the septic tank overflowing, drainage effluent appearing at ground level, seeping into ditches or backing-up the pipes. These are common problems.

There is some info on here, which might help

http://www.wte-ltd.co.uk/septictank.html