Search the Community

We have just gained planning permission to construct what will be our retirement home on land adjacent to our existing house. During the build of our new home we are looking to purchase a caravan / mobile home to live in for the duration of the build. I believe we will be able to get a new electrical and water supply that can be used by the caravan but we will not (in the caravan) be able to connect to the mains sewer. We have no prior knowledge or experience of caravans, apologies if this has been discussed before (I can’t find it) but how do caravans / mobile homes dispose of everything from dishwater to raw sewage when ‘off grid’?

Hi everyone, I’ve been reading a few threads on here in search of potential solutions and thought it might be wise to post my issue in the hope that someone may have some advice. We moved house about 8 months ago (Angus, Scotland), to a rural barn conversion with a few other properties around. We have a septic tank and foolishly didn’t have a tank inspection before buying. We just checked it was registered with SEPA and that soakaway which is in a neighboring field is in the deeds. Well it turns out the soakaway is ruined - the field’s owners alerted that something didn’t right about a month ago. We had the tank emptied and have a collapsed baffle. At first we thought we were looking at replacing the tank and soakaway which would be bad enough, but it turns out there are further issues. Our deeds only specify the corner of field where our current soakaway is located, and this is far too saturated to reuse (we’ve been advised that even a mound would be likely to fail), and the field’s owners won’t permit us to use another part of the field. Sadly our own garden is too small to fit a soakaway, especially as it is bounded by a road, so taking of the distance it has to be from the house and boundaries leaves about only a meter wide! So we are looking into a couple of options; 1: to upgrade to a sewage treatment plant and drain to a ditch. The catch being the closest ditch is about 150 meters away and would involve pumping up a slight incline. The other is 250 meters, mostly down a slight slope, but there is a rise of trees in the way too. The neighbours who own the soakaway field also own the woods beyond and are happy for us to drain to a ditch there, but we don’t actually know of any (they’re not on google maps). Hopefully over the holidays we can meet with them to see if they know of any, and assess how feasible it is. They have also mentioned the possibility of creating new drainage ditches. 2: there is another neighbour behind us (who we share a driveway with) who owns another couple of fields. We are thinking we could offer to add them to our treatment plant (it would still be the same size) for free if it means placing the soakaway in their field. The soakaway would need to be larger of course, but it beats having having a house with no sewage which is becoming a serious concern! Luckily, there are no issues in the house yet and water is still draining away (I’ve watched it through the inspection hole after a bath!), but we’ve been told it’s only a matter of time until things back up. So I’m after any advice! I was wondering if anyone has experience of draining to a ditch that is a similar distance away and/or maybe needs pumping uphill. Does it work, what we’re the install costs, what are the running costs, what happens if the pump fails? Has anyone gone through the process of getting approval from SEPA to drain to a any hints? Also, does anyone share a treatment plant/nothing I would be aware of? We are also open to any other creative solutions, as ultimately we need to figure something out! Many thanks in advance to anyone who can help:)

Houston ...we have a ... (well you know what we have) Basically the engineer working for Anglian water came out today and checked the falls. (If you know already ..i wont bore you ...but we are running all the services through our inlaws house to the road in front of their house as the road we have an entrance on the services are "unadopted" ....long story .....but) ...anyway. Due to the distance of around 45m from main sewer to our invert ...we have to fall TOO far.. ...and it would be a smidge under 2m deep along the house which is too close for comfort ...without underpinning which is financially a non starter ..so someone suggested a pump ...! ...sounds good ... But of course we are ALSO picking up our inlaws waste when we run out to the mains sewer ...as that was part of the deal (they are currently on an old and dilapidated rear garden cesspit) So my question (which even the waste company couldn't answer) is ... Will my pump a the proposed location effectively SHOVE the waste out to the sewer when it HAS to pass through our inlaws manhole as well ? any Pump Gurus online ? see attached for a handy pic

Well with the trench blocks in its time to sort out my services and stuff for drainage and waste i basically COPIED the paths from an identical house but as I am doing the pipework and paths myself (as much as i can anyway) I wouldn't mind a bit of the usual good advice from the sages on here ! In your guys (or girls) honest opinion 1. does the waste and rainwater make sense ? ....do you think i need to add anymore feeds for RW at the top left? 2. The services (sadly) enter the house on the wrong side (see blue arrow) ...I have to get virtually EVERYTHING to the Blue cross as this trench carries it all 30m to the road Sewage, Water, Electric, Gas and Telecoms (too possibly) How would you lot do it ? ..as in what way? I have some pics below that could help you visualise it a) planned water paths b) roofscape ( the bit on the right is a single storey sunroom c) example of identical house built a few years ago any advice is appreciated

Just going over my new sewer application form. quite straightforward But has anyone seen the section about the specs of an "adopted lateral" apparently it has to be ..... "capable of demonstrating a jetting resistance of 4000 psi (280 bar) without damage when tested in accordance with Section 6.10 of WIS 4-35-01" hmm....I am hazarding a guess that normal 100mm sewage pipe will not suffice I have tried to search Google ..but cannot find any at all

Hi All, I have read a lot of the older posts on BH regarding these, and wondered if anyone had any recommendations. I had planned to put my new build onto Mains sewer, and for those that have read my other posts ..the plan was to channel through parents land to get to the closest access....moving them from an old brick cesspit too Sadly, the lateral that should have been there ..isn't and after spending a few hundred and digging up loads of their garden it appears "anecdotal" tales of the mythical ...spur to all properties ..is just that ...a distant race memory from the 1970's What led us to believe that there MAY be a lateral or spur there is the neighbours connected several years ago ...but this is where a can of worms well and TRULY opened ...apparently that connection is not "legal" according to the water board and no work or application was filed and that i cannot connect to that anyway as it breached this rule and that and the other ...they will now be contacting the homeowner as they have never received a penny in sewer charges .....OOOPS! ..Well how was I to know? (sigh) So now the alternative is for us to "core drill" at 2.7m deep at Main sewer which is about 20m away across a path, green verge and yes ...a road. I have had a few quotes and to be honest ...After everything is done ...I doubt i will have much change left from £15k-£17k ...Which is a killer for us. So I am back to thinking about an alternative ....We have a decent back garden (or will have) and i suppose the front is possible also .. We do KNOW about the older brick cesspits ....and to be honest ..we were not impressed ...emptying at least twice a year and then having to rod it several times also and being stood up to the knees in well ...PIT & SHISS ....Not i deal ..well of course this pit is 40 years old ... I am hoping there is a modern equivalent that doesnt smell in summer and that needs minimal maintenance ...OH, and keep the council happy. Easy?

Well..its a bit like columbo folks ..but this time we don't know the answer in advance ...but there is plenty of "just one more things" We got in touch with Anglian waste water to connect our aging in-laws up to the main sewer .. (house on map below with red dot) ..and they sent us this very plan. Connect to 5901 they said ...which is a fair way away ....they dont do the work themselves they have a list of contractors ...and so i got one out for a quote you don't want to know ...honestly! that manhole is 3 metres deep and has a ladder down it ...Apparently we would need to come in at invert level and so the digging and the fitting of a manhole on my in-laws land is like 6 figures Bang! So while he was there he noticed their neighbours (green dot) have a manhole in their drive, so he had a peep and it IS a sewage mahole !!! ....but rather than going to 5901 ...it appears to be heading to 6901 Now the current owner knows nothing of how the house got on mains sewage, but there is a legend, rumour, call it what you will that all these houses have a "spur" in the drive way ...which in his case would make sense as the road doesnt look dug up. So i got advice to get a CCTV camera shoved down it ...but after several phone calls I was told that the rod cameras will only go one way ? and that if the neighbour is on some type of lateral? ..with spurs? then they probably wouldnt get to see it ..so it would be a waste of £200 apparently there are "crawler" camera and ones with prehensile sections ...but these are "mad money" and only large contractors or the water board themselves have access to this technology ....(i bet even Area 51 dont have it) So there you have it ...do you guys think my only alternative is to get on the old "banjo and barrow" or do i sell my car to we buyanycar, the wife to Harvey weinstein and pay potentially 15k

Good Afternoon All Well its time to finalise my drawing and sewage and services layout. As some of you know (due to location) ...I am actually bringing ALL my connections past our parents house (on the edge of their land) In return for letting us, we are connecting them to the main sewer with our build half the houses here are still "on the pits" ..including theirs Now I have tried to measure everything in 10cm / 100mm blocks and got the drawing below. Obviously this is the "busiest" part as this is between our parents and next door and it is where they will connect to our sewage via a 450mm manhole (which is that box in the middle Looking at the below and bearing in mind that T=Telecom. E=Electric G=Gas and W=Water and of course WW = Waste water (sewage) Will i be safe using this as a cross section for the Building regs ?

Whilst doing so groundworks the other day, I had to remove a riser from our treatment plant inspection chamber. I took the opportunity to take a quick sample of the treated effluent to see how clear it was and if there was any detectable odour. I'm pleased to say it was both clear and odour free. The treatment plant itself (Biopure) appears to be working as it should, the air pump diffusing air into the central digestion chamber, with the outer chamber topped by a layer of scum which I believe will eventually form into a crust. I'd like to be able to test the quality of the treated effluent, to see how clean said effluent is (and whether the results match the manufacturers stated performance) but I can't seem to find any kits to do this, other than by spending a fair chunk of cash: http://www.camlab.co.uk/palintest-sewage-effluent-kit-p26092.aspx Just wondering if anyone else has self tested their treatment plant effluent and what did they use?

Are there any simple cheap means of testing pre-treated waste water quality ?

Good Afternoon All, As usual I am looking for a bit of advice. I am in the process of submitting full planning and have already had a "favourable" pre-app assessment/consultaion We are building a small house on some land we have acquired from our parents. We are in the process of also submitting a right of access to the road (which seems also to be going well..fingers crossed). Our main issue is SERVICES ...the problem we have is that the recent development "across the road" is unadopted and as far as we are able to ascertain we cannot get easily connected with anything ....further to that if we stay on the same side of the road ..its 100m at LEAST to the nearest curent point for only SOME services. We have consulted with Gas and Electric and Also Freshwater ..and they have advised us the easiest way could be to connect "through" our families property...(which they have no issue) and create a "wayleave?" into the deeds. So now we get to wastewater ....(and here it gets tricky) Our Parents are on a Cesspit ..have been for 30 years and SOME of the adjoining properties still are (as it is an old village) ..there is mains sewage now on their road ....but i suppose a few have thought if it ain't broke ....etc etc. So we stated off looking at various cesspits, treatments etc etc for our new house ...as we didnt fancy the idea of waste pipes struggling to shift (god knows what) 50 metres... I have just had a VERY interesting conversation with a company ...so I am looking for your guys learned knowledge. He has suggested a "pumping station" ..I have never come across them ?! I mean we are digging a services trench anyway for the rest of the services ....and we are also thinking that our parents sewage is also on that side of the house. so what do you think ...Pumping Station OK ...for building regs etc ? would it be simple to "connect up" or at the same time channel our parents waste to the mains sewage ? I plan on doing most of the donkey work myself ..any advice chaps? your help is as always appreciated I attach the pump that was recommended on PDF and also an image of our area Red = Our Land where we hope to Build Blue = Our Parents Land Green = the proposed path of other services FEKA_VS brochure.pdf

If you don't want to know the result, look away now. Don't read this until well after tea time . I need a grease trap. For my digester. Anyone got any experience of them? Can't find out much about them. (that isn't Yankeee)

I have my Condor ASP sunk in the ground with the sewage pipe connected from the house. Next week hope to connect up the power and waste ‘clean water’ outlet. The manual makes reference to commissioning, just wondered what this entails, do I need to get an engineer out? Looks like minimal adjustment available... What have others done?