Is an individual STP worth the investment?

[Kelvin]

On 08/08/2024 at 17:58, joe90 said:

I am another for your own STP. I would not touch a biodisc with a barge pole, go it alone.

You missed an opportunity there. I would not touch a biodisc with a shitty stick especially when the stick us covered in your neighbour’s shit. 
 

The issue with them really dawned on me when I saw a cross section of one at the NSBRC. 

[crispy_wafer]

Agree, wouldn’t go near a poo tank with mechanicals in it.  Only advice I can give if you are going down that route, would be get it installed by a competent persons, then signed off by klargester and then take out a maintenance contract so someone else has to deal with issues should they happen.

 

With an airpump system, quite honestly I wouldn’t be worried about putting gloves on and pulling out the pump and bits.

Edited August 23 by crispy_wafer

[joe90]

1 hour ago, crispy_wafer said:

With an airpump system, quite honestly I wouldn’t be worried about putting gloves on and pulling out the pump and bits.

But a lot of pumps like mine were not in the tank but a separate box.

[ProDave]

2 hours ago, joe90 said:

But a lot of pumps like mine were not in the tank but a separate box.

Mine is in it's own compartment in the top of the unit.  It really is a simple job to take the pump out, recondition it and put it back.  No need even for gloves. You do not need to get involved in the "contents"

[joe90]

When mine was commissioned I was told the only thing that usually failed was the pump diaphrams which were easy to replace so I bought a spare one and left it in the box with the pump (it’s still going strong)..

[Oz07]

55 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Mine is in it's own compartment in the top of the unit.  It really is a simple job to take the pump out, recondition it and put it back.  No need even for gloves. You do not need to get involved in the "contents"

 

33 minutes ago, joe90 said:

When mine was commissioned I was told the only thing that usually failed was the pump diaphrams which were easy to replace so I bought a spare one and left it in the box with the pump (it’s still going strong)..

What model are these units?

[crispy_wafer]

10 hours ago, joe90 said:

But a lot of pumps like mine were not in the tank but a separate box.

The main guts of mine is in a tub just under the inspection chamber lid.  I was meaning pulling out the bubble gubbins if needs be, this lays on the floor of the tank

 

My unit's a Rewatec ASP thing.

Edited August 24 by crispy_wafer

[joe90]

7 hours ago, Oz07 said:

What model are these units?

vortex.

[scottishjohn]

Iwent vortec as the emmissions are actually better than a bio disc 

AND LESS THAN HALF THE PRICE

[Kelvin]

The only issue with the air kind is the blower does make a noise when running. Our blower is remote from the PTP in a cabinet and 30m or so from the house. It’s set to run on an on/off cycle. If it was close to the house we’d likely hear it but being so far away we can’t. The other slightly noisy element is through the mushroom air vent I fitted in the pipework just after where it exits the treatment plant when the blower is running. There’s a gurgling noise as the water exits the tank into the pipework on its way to the drainage field. Ours is a Graf One2clean so might be set up differently from the other air products. 

[Kelvin]

15 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

Iwent vortec as the emmissions are actually better than a bio disc 

AND LESS THAN HALF THE PRICE

What I noticed was architects/SEs use Klargester as a catch all much in the same way we call vacuum cleaners Hoovers. I was recently speaking to someone who had a house built a while ago and they had a Klargester fitted but for no other reason than that was what the drainage designer had written in the description. He thought he had to fit a Klargester and didn’t realise he could have fitted anything else. 

[joe90]

6 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

The only issue with the air kind is the blower does make a noise when running

Yes there is some noise but I lined the tank lid and blower box with acoustic foam which made a big difference.

[ProDave]

22 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

The only issue with the air kind is the blower does make a noise when running.

Yes but so does the Bio Disc type.  They have a motor permanently running driving the rotating disk via a gearbox.  If anything they are more noisy than an air blower. 

[ProDave]

9 hours ago, joe90 said:

When mine was commissioned I was told the only thing that usually failed was the pump diaphrams which were easy to replace so I bought a spare one and left it in the box with the pump (it’s still going strong)..

Mine just failed 2 weeks ago at 7 years old.  £36 for a replacement kit and half an hour to fit it.

[scottishjohn]

On 08/08/2024 at 08:43, jumbletons said:

Hi all,

Long story short - 3 cottages, I'm the middle, share a septic tank in Cottage 3. This year I  learnt it doesn't meet regs (I bought the property in 2021 but the illegal nature of the septic tank wasn't flagged up by conveyancing solicitor). We agreed it needed replacing. NB my property deeds are COMPLEX! Old farm worker's cottage with lots of easements, rights of way, bits of land added, missing permissions, etc etc. So buying it was not a simple task, whereas my neighbours have never sold/bought either property on the open market so are unaware of the foibles of conveyancing (they're family and have lived here generations, so their properties were passed down and they don't like kindly on newbies like me upgrading by property...). 

 

Neighbours 1 and 3 have spent months trying to bully me into moving some or all of the system onto my property and refusing to replace the system like for like on their land (they don't want to dig up their garden, so would prefer for me to dig up mine). I have consistently declined moving anything to my land - I do not want the future hassle if any disputes (and if the system blocks, then I could get sewage pollution), nor the added complexity in my deeds. I have therefore looked into getting my own individual system. 

 

We have finally got down to 2 options:

1 - Continue status quo: cottage 3 have finally agreed to put in a shared system, on their land, for all 3 cottages (like I said months ago). They will request access for building work via my property, which involves taking out a piece of trellis, fence and a small vegetable plot. So, some upheaval for me. We will need a new easement. Cost TBC but obviously less than option 2

2 - I go individual, cottage 1 and 3 share. This means the old pipes crossing my garden will still be used by 1 so remain in situ. I will divert my pipes under them to a plant in my very small front garden, outflow will be pumped out (otherwise the whole thing will end up far too deep, as it's got 50m to go to reach my ditch!). We will need to alter the easement to release me from existing responsibilities towards the shared tank, and retain the pipe easement for no. 1. Cost will be about £8-10,000 more than option 1 (I live in the SE, I've had many quotes, and they're all this high! And no I can't DIY install because I have waaaaay too many other commitments)

 

I'm torn. The last few months has been truly awful, being in dispute with neighbours. It's opened my eyes to the horrors of sharing (and we still have plenty else that we share, like access road, driveway etc!). I also think some people will walk away from my property when it comes to selling (not planning on selling ever but you never know!), because of all the many foibles, but the shared septic system may be the final straw...

 

On the other hand, it seems mad not to share - it's cheaper, and I don't need to dig up my garden. However, I spent a year planning and putting up with chaos in my home to get it insulated, the conservatory updated, and green energy put in....it was a MASSIVE upheaval .....but I'm glad I did it. It adds to my quality of life, my peace of mind, and the value of my home. So I feel this could be a similar investment. 

 

What would you do???

 

(The individual system will be a Harlequin CAP6)

I personally would not share with neighbours   --they could sell up and you get a real nasty one 

unless you have an legal agreement where everybody pays into a maintaince fund -- every month  ,£20-30 a month  so when it needs servicing there are no problems  and you put it in a separte account

 if they don,t want that then  let them sort their own problems

 

 this needs to include any successoors to the other properties  or I promise you when it goes wrong  they will cry poverty   that should also take care of the yearly empting that is now required

 

same as with  access shared roads  would avoid like  monkey pox 

Edited August 24 by scottishjohn

[saveasteading]

31 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

the yearly empting that is now required

I had not heard of this. Required by whom?

I had to empty a "country" cess pit because it was failing. But that was after 50 years, maybe more. Even after a sucklift, there was 4" of black sludge on the bottom plus various items.

Does a modern treatment tank need it or is it an advisable routine?

It has since worked fine for 8 years tho the outlet liquid isn't nice.

[joe90]

23 minutes ago, saveasteading said:

Does a modern treatment tank need it or is it an advisable routine?

The guy that commissioned mine said there is some stuff that needs pumping but certainly not annually, his had been running without emptying fir 7 years, he advised poking the bottom with a stick to see what’s down there.

[ProDave]

When I fixed my pump last week, I did have to poke the contents with a stick to break the crust on the top, just to be able to confirm it was blowing bubbles and nothing was blocked.  It was blowing fine.  Below the crust it was liquid all the way to the bottom.

 

Awaiting it's 3 yearly pump out just for good measure.

[saveasteading]

1 hour ago, ProDave said:

Below the crust

Are there any suggestions that breaking the crust helps it digest? Air bubbling through might digest it.

[ProDave]

1 minute ago, saveasteading said:

Are there any suggestions that breaking the crust helps it digest? Air bubbling through might digest it.

No, but without breaking the crust it was not clear if the pump was correctly blowing bubbles in the contents, that's why I broke it, to check all was well.

[dpmiller]

Is a crust normal? I've never seen one on ours.

[saveasteading]

I happen to be working out a drainage scheme today.

The rainwater is easy enough. to soakaway with a volume large enough to hold the storm. Lots: 6m3 but easy enough with a ditch and a small swale.

 

But STP disposal is crazy. 90m2 of drainage field after treatment. Am I misreading the building regs doc H ? I wont hijack this thread so will start another.

[scottishjohn]

it is a requirement in scotland now to keep a log of when the tank is serviced 

 

 not sure about england  

 

and with present cuts in council spending not sure how often they will ask the question 

 

 but i did read somewhere it if not now but shortly will be a requirement from  SEPA 

will go and hunt sepa site and try to find it

 a quick search 

 

https://www.sepa.org.uk/regulations/water/septic-tanks-and-private-sewage-treatment-systems/maintaining-your-private-sewage-treatment-system/

 

Iam sure iwas told by the SEPA man that log must be kept of servicing and desludging

 

S oif dealing with a shared tank as this first post was discussing ,then it makes sense to have an agreement on who pays for it

 

Edited August 25 by scottishjohn

[scottishjohn]

I just got this from british water site 

which mentions desluding and keeping of records

https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.britishwater.co.uk/resource/resmgr/publications/codes_of_practice/bw_desludging_v.2.pdf

 Iknow from ahving a garage that you must get a waste ticket from who ever does the job or you could get a fine for  not disposing of waste in the correct manner by an approved contractor

 

 I think you would be unlucky to get a visit with how things are  --but it is possible an they could ask to see your log and  who did it 

 

Edited August 25 by scottishjohn

[dpmiller]

NI Water have a free annual desludge service