Existing off-mains sewerage issues

[ChrisSig]

Good afternoon all. I've had a search through on related topics and decided it would be best to start a new topic rather than hijack an existing one; apologies if this has been covered elsewhere and my search skills aren't what they should be.

 

Our situation - we bought our property in 2013. It was built sometime in the mid 19th century and has a septic tank system which I presume was installed well before the introduction of British Standards in 1983. Our tank is shared with our neighbour; there is another septic tank shared between two other houses in our development. Both of these tanks then share a common discharge (so four houses into two tanks into one discharge). The problem we are faced with is that the existing discharge for all four properties just runs to the edge of a neighbouring field and then discharges to open ground at surface level (the field is sloping; it's basically embedded in a bank at the top of the field). As I understand it from reading the general binding rules, there are two types of discharge - to surface water (which must be continuously running) or to ground (a drainage field or similar). What we have doesn't seem to fit into either category. My concerns with the existing system are firstly that I don't think it's compliant with the general binding rules (which as I understand it is a legal problem from January of next year) and secondly that the discharge pipe itself may be failing - it's a clay pipe which has already suffered a localised collapse. The farmer who rents the field is also unhappy about the boggy conditions near the outlet.

 

Looking into options for remediation, there doesn't seem to be a straightforward route available. Our subsoil has a thick yellow clay layer below the top 1' of topsoil and I am quite convinced based on experience of digging holes in the garden it's too impermeable for a drainage field (which in any case would require installation on land that none of us own). We're a long way from a mains sewer. There are no flowing water courses nearby. A rebuild project down the road from us has been faced with this issue and wasn't given permission for a borehole when they enquired with the EA - work seems to have stopped whilst they find a solution. We appear to be in a position where we don't have the ability to make use of surface or ground discharges, but equally we don't appear to be able to do nothing about it. I have looked into drainage mounds, but as we don't own the land they would need to go on again that seems like a non-starter to me. Based on the topography of the site, I think it may be possible to install a reed bed in a small corner of the field which given the much smaller area may be more negotiable with the land owner - however I'm not clear on whether the water coming out of a reed bed can then just be discharged as surface water or if that's not permissible either?

 

I'm quite prepared to go down the route of changing the septic tank for a treatment plant if needs be, but from my current position I don't see how that will help me given the effluent from a treatment plant still needs a discharge route that I don't have available.

 

I recognise I am in a position where I need to seek some authoritative advice. There seems to be a lot of conflicting advice between different professional companies however - some seem to be doing their best to sell you the earth, some seem to be giving more helpful advice and there are some who seem to be offering only the bare minimum they can get away with, if that. So I want to be able to have an informed discussion to make sure I'm not being mis-sold anything. I'm also loathe to start engaging with the local authorities and the EA at least until I have a better understanding of my options and how I could proceed - the last thing I want is to fall out with the neighbours over being the cause of enforcement action.

 

I'm sure this isn't a unique problem as I have heard a lot of anecdotal evidence of others locally with similar systems so I'm hoping that someone may be able to offer information and solutions.

 

Thanks in anticipation,

 

Chris

[ProDave]

I think your first port of call would be the owner (not the tenant) of the field.  There must be some form of right of discharge, if not by agreement, by established use.  Impress upon him any improvement to the existing situation will be to his benefit as well.

 

Then with his agreement dig some test holes in various parts of the field so establish what the soil type is there, and to measure the percolation rates.  Then with that information you can begin to design an alternative.

 

I would regard dealing with the infiltration field as a separate exercise to upgrading the septic tanks.  Once the infiltration field is established there should be no issue upgrading to a treatment plant.

[Temp]

This web site...

https://www.wte-ltd.co.uk/septic_tank_general_binding_rules_2020.html

..suggests it might only be septic tanks that discharge directly to a water course  that have to be replaced by a sewerage treatment plant.

 

Check out the title deeds for all properties concerned to see if there is anything mentioned about a right to discharge. These can be obtained from the (real) Land Registry web site for a few £ each. You may have to set up an account but they send them by email in a few mins usually. Make sure you visit the real one as some of the fakes look better than the real one!

 

 

 

 

[ToughButterCup]

Hello @ChrisSig. I know exactly how you feel. I've been there. 

 

The imminent change in the rools is not as bad as it sounds: it'll make no difference to the hundreds of thousands of other people who are in exactly the same situation as you. It will make  differrence if you are proposing to sell.

But, for now don't worry. Nowt is going to change on the stroke of midnight.

 

First,

• follow @Temp's advice.
• then follow @ProDave's

In terms of unhappy-chappie farmers and bogginess (what's new?) - offer to dig a drainage pipe (£250 per day plus machine hire plus stone, pipe and some form of membrane )  to the nearest sensible place : where does that bank lead to ?

 

 

[joe90]

As a slight aside to this, we have a treatment plant supplied by WTE , a Vortex and it discharges to a ditch that is dry a couple of months a year by using a rumble drain. (Pipe from plant is perforated and lies within drainage stone 10m to the ditch) . We are also on solid yellow clay.

[ProDave]

Is there a watercourse within or near that field?  If so discharging to that would be the long term solution but will require both of you to update to a treatment plant.

[ChrisSig]

Wow, thanks all for responding so quickly! I shall get started investigating existing discharge rights and think about where to go from there.

 

@Temp, I agree the general binding rules are a bit ambiguous here. The guidance is written assuming you have one of two discharge arrangements, offering no advice for those who have neither. I infer from reading the Building Regulations etc that our setup is definitely not compliant with modern regulations and nor is it compliant with the General Binding Rules, hence my uneasiness about our installation.

 

@ProDave and @AnonymousBosch, I haven't looked around the edges of the field to see what options we might have going further from the existing discharge point. The field is a fairly sizeable and well established orchard, so digging across it will be a bit challenging if that's what it comes to. Will try and walk the boundary at the weekend and see what options I have there.

[Temp]

Looking here...

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/general-binding-rules-small-sewage-discharge-to-the-ground

and

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/397173/ssd-general-binding-rules.pdf

5: The sewage must receive treatment from a septic tank and infiltration system (drainage field) or a sewage treatment plant and infiltration system.

and

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/367016/ssd-reform-further-info-201410.pdf

..it does look like an upgrade to a drainage field/mound is required even for systems built before 2014. Drainage mounds can be quite large. If you find a water course to discharge into you would also need to change to treatment plants instead of septic tanks.

In the latter document it says who is responsible on page 8...

The description also accommodates situations where there is more than one operator e.g. where several properties share the same septic tank or treatment plant. The premise is that they all benefit from using the system, so its maintenance is a shared responsibility.

 

I share a septic tank with two other properties, who is responsible for the discharge?
In this case there are likely to be three operators – you and your two neighbours. Responsibility for the septic tank and its discharge and for complying with the general binding rules is a shared responsibility, unless you have a written agreement which states otherwise.

 

So again well worth checking the title deeds.
 
One problem I can see is that the owner of the field may not be obliged to agree to any changes. So perhaps keep him sweet. Likewise the owners of the other three houses as there could be a bill heading their way.

I think you should also contact the water co to see if they have any plans to connect this group of houses to mains sewers. The village near us was done recently but that's about 25 houses.

 

Edited September 9, 2019 by Temp
Grr this editor sucks.