Neighbours drainage pipe.

[Mike_scotland]

Hello,

 

At our plot exactly were we will be making an entrance to begin work,the neighbours cesspit pipework runs through (it's just 1 pipe roughly 2ft down) right at the southern edge, hes said we need to watch if were bringing heavy traffic into the plot incase it breaks it as it has broken before with the previous owner(farmer) plowing his field etc.

 

My question Is what can I do to protect it just concrete it ? Or? 

 

Thanks in advance.

[PeterW]

Welcome 

 

Is this a pipe to his cesspit or a pipe to a leach field or overflow ..? 
 

best way would be to replace it properly with a new pipe and encase that in concrete and then build up a new driveway over that with layers of compacted hardcore. 
 

I’m assuming he has some sort of easement over the land..?? Does it have anything about him entering to maintain the pipe work ..??

[Mike_scotland]

Hi Peter,

 

From what I believe is the pipe comes from his septic tank then runs past all the houses in the area to god nose were. 

 

Replacing the pipework would be out question I think as I'm not sure who would pay for it.

 

I'm looking to just sure up an entrance then forget about it. 

 

This has recently just been brought to my attention I have only owned the plot for 8 months.

[Russell griffiths]

You pay for it, digger for a morning, £50 pipe £50 concrete, back fill it and then sleep soundly that you can bring whatever you want to your land with no problems. 

Easy insurance. 

 

Or dig down to within 150mm of it, lay 100mm concrete on top 600 wide, Chuck some heave reinforcement mesh in, cover with another 100mm concrete and back fill. 

Edited May 24, 2020 by Russell griffiths

[scottishjohn]

38 minutes ago, PeterW said:

I’m assuming he has some sort of easement over the land..?? Does it have anything about him entering to maintain the pipe work ..??

thats the first thing I would be checking -if no easment --then its his problem not yours

 and how does he get to the cess pit to empty it?

over your land?

Edited May 24, 2020 by scottishjohn

[LA3222]

I would say you are better paying yourself to get this sorted.

 

If you start discussions with the neighbour about who is going to pay it will probably lead to a deadlock and animosity on both sides. You may see it as not your responsibility, the neighbour will see it as his pipe has been there since the dawn of time, he may see you as the interloper and why should he pay. - not my view, just how the neighbour may perceive it.

 

It sounds like it will be relatively easy to sort and less hassle to just do it rather than quibble over it - just my take on things?‍♂️

Edited May 24, 2020 by LA3222

[scottishjohn]

5 minutes ago, LA3222 said:

I would agree with the others, it needs sorting one way or another and as much as you may not want to you would be better paying yourself to get this sorted.

 

If you start discussions with the neighbour about who is going to pay it will probably lead to a deadlock and animosity on both sides. You may see it as not your responsibility, the neighbour will see it as his pipe has been there since the dawn of time, you are the interloper and why should he pay.

 

It sounds like it will be relatively easy to sort and less hassle to just do it rather than quibble over it - just my take on things?‍♂️

I basically agree --but if the last repair was a bodge job --you could end up with more of a job to fix it right than we think - so best to check who is liable to start with in my opinion .then do what ever  is best fix 

 I would worry if it is a cess pit --that would make me think its all very old -- you can,t have cess pit in scotland now  --so maybe you opening up its plumbing could trigger BC insisting on it being up dated .

I could be totally wrong --but I would want to know worst case  before opening it up 

Edited May 24, 2020 by scottishjohn

[ProDave]

I would want to find out more about where the pipe goes.  If you find it connects to a massive leach field under your plot you are going to have problems.  It was (is?) quite common for a residential property to have a leach field under adjoining land, we have that at our last house, with a deed of servitude to have the leach field there. It even shows on the land registry map as having the leach field in the field behind our house.

 

I would look up the lad registry maps for his house and see if anything is marked.

[Mike_scotland]

4 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

thats the first thing I would be checking -if no easment --then its his problem not yours

 and how does he get to the cess pit to empty it?

over your land?

Hi,

 

From what I gather is the foul water comes out 2 x houses septic tanks along passed my plot and away somewhere likely into a field or something (one down the road that is able to soakway).... I'm assuming as the ground for soakway isnt the best were I am

[Mike_scotland]

Just now, ProDave said:

I would want to find out more about where the pipe goes.  If you find it connects to a massive leach field under your plot you are going to have problems.  It was (is?) quite common for a residential property to have a leach field under adjoining land, we have that at our last house, with a deed of servitude to have the leach field there. It even shows on the land registry map as having the leach field in the field behind our house.

 

I would look up the lad registry maps for his house and see if anything is marked.

No it's not that, it goes along a load of houses and away.

 

It's going away from my plot.

[scottishjohn]

3 minutes ago, Mike_scotland said:

No it's not that, it goes along a load of houses and away.

 

It's going away from my plot.

then it don,t sound like a leach field -but an old fashioned pipe that ends up  in a burn somewhere --I would want to know where its going .

 maybe just better to fence it off and have nothing go anywhere near it

 but first you got to onow exactly where it is-

a farmer damaging when ploughing sounds like its not buried deep enough anyway  yuo don,t plough down to 2ft+

 

Edited May 24, 2020 by scottishjohn

[Mike_scotland]

Just now, scottishjohn said:

then it don,t sound like a leach field -but an old fashioned pipe that ends up  in a burn somewhere --I would want to know where its going .

 maybe just better to fence it off and have nothing go anywhere near it

 

I will try upload some photos, I cant fence it off it runs right along my south boundary and that's the only entrance to my plot.

[scottishjohn]

1 minute ago, Mike_scotland said:

I will try upload some photos, I cant fence it off it runs right along my south boundary and that's the only entrance to my plot.

you mean outside your boundary  or inside

[Mike_scotland]

I should of done this from the beginning guys my apologies.

 

The blue box is my plot boundaries.

 

The red line is the pipe running through the south of my boundary, just inside my plot. as you can see that is were I will need to put my entrance as no other way in.

 

The pipework runs from the left (west) to the right(east) through my plot collection effluent from the houses, my belief is it continues east to a nearby farm then I'm unsure.

[ProDave]

So, thinking out of the box now.

 

This pipe passes through your land.  It carries the discharge from 2 properties to some unknown place perhaps a watercourse.

 

You have a drainage problem on your land due to poor percolation.

 

I would be exploring the possibility of installing a treatment plant with that connecting to this pipe and thus draining to this unknown but obviously working place.

 

To do that i suspect you would have to find out where it goes.  I would start by walking down the road to see if there is any place it obviously ends up.  then confirm that by putting dye down the pipe.

 

And when concreting over the pipe, insert an inspection chamber primarily as a rodding and inspection point, but with the possibility of joining your discharge to it.

 

Discuss all this with building control, but first try and find out where it goes as they will want to know.

[Mike_scotland]

I will look more Into it.

 

I'm pretty sure part of purchasing the plot was to provide my own drainage. Which is why I got a perc test done and found out I would require a mound or puraflo pods.

[ProDave]

29 minutes ago, Mike_scotland said:

I will look more Into it.

 

I'm pretty sure part of purchasing the plot was to provide my own drainage. Which is why I got a perc test done and found out I would require a mound or puraflo pods.

At least you have the space to do that, unlike the neighbours.  But it seems a shame to have to have to do all that if there is a perfectly good shared drain pipe to "somehwere"

 

It has got to be worth talking to BC about it?

[Mike_scotland]

100% mate.

 

I have emailed my solicitor to see what the specific wording was.

[Mike_scotland]

Thanks everyone who has giving guidance and help! 

[Stones]

Could be a win for you here -  if the pipe carries effluent out of septic tanks to a watercourse, you could fit a larger treatment plant and take in that effluent flow in addition to your own requirements. You would then be saying to SEPA, if you let me discharge to watercourse (and thus avoid filter mound), I'll clean up the pollution currently being discharged...

[Mike_scotland]

17 hours ago, Stones said:

Could be a win for you here -  if the pipe carries effluent out of septic tanks to a watercourse, you could fit a larger treatment plant and take in that effluent flow in addition to your own requirements. You would then be saying to SEPA, if you let me discharge to watercourse (and thus avoid filter mound), I'll clean up the pollution currently being discharged...

Would it not be down to who owns or runs the pipe other than sepa? If I can use it or not.

 

The neighbours on either side were moaning during planning about the pipe being crap and could break etc.

[Temp]

Perhaps worth checking old maps to see if this was once an old roadside ditch they put a pipe in an covered over?

[Mike_scotland]

50 minutes ago, Temp said:

Perhaps worth checking old maps to see if this was once an old roadside ditch they put a pipe in an covered over?

Worth a look definitely 

[Temp]

If it is a piped ditch you may have rights to discharge rainwater into it.