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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 9:32 pm
by topgrafter2007
any of you guys know much about septic tanks? recently moved into old but rebuilt farmhouse. there is a cover to a tank in a large flower bed. the lid has rotted thru (steel lid) and is set in plastic rim. when it rains water comes out of the lid and runs into the bed and it smells ABIT ??? old fella that lived here passed away so cant ask him if or where the run off pipe is. looked everywhere to no avail. thought it might be blocked. do the run off pipes tend to be fed out from top of the tank? and should it have brick built lid similar to manhole?
Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:07 pm
by Pablo
Chances are you either have a very old mk1 septic tank or an original cess pit type job. Sorting it out will probably be a job for a pro. Firstly you'll need to get rid of the sludge then it'll need the baffles and outlet points cleaned. This is only me guessing of course but if it's not draining then you may need to re-do all the outflow drainage too. Somewhere throughout time they may have plumbed too much stromwater into it which can overwhelm them. If thats the case then you'll also need to find a different way of disposing of it. An overflowing septic tank is a biohazard so be careful around it. Also with septic tanks you shouldn't put any harsh chemicals like bleach and detergent and anything none biodegradable down the tiolets and sinks. That includes sanitary towels rubbers and facewipes because they can quickly cause blockages. Chemicals basically kill the bacteria that is breaking everything down meaning the harmfull stuff goes straight through and sludge starts to clog it up. My old man used to have a lot of holiday cottages on our property back home in Scotland all with tanks every year we had to empty them due to people not following the rules it is a horrible job some of the stuff we pulled from them was incredible whereas my old mans system hasn't been touched in 30 years.
Edited By Pablo on 1236636551
Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 10:07 pm
by msh paving
The outlet pipe is 1 inch lower than the inlet pipe at oposite side to inlet, is it a new plastic tank or a brick buit one,
if water comes out chances are it needs a desludge, septic tanks need desludging every 12/15 months most people dont understand solid goes in but need to be removed otherwise tank will fill and be no good at all, had one last summer was half full of solid poo took 3 tanker full of water to jet it and remove it
i replace alot off septic tanks with bio treament plants , i would not have a septic tank the enviroment agency wont let you fit them on new build anymore unless you can prove the land drainage capiticy MSH 
Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:16 pm
by topgrafter2007
tanks green plastic type, about ten to twelve years old i think. seems to be full of water rather than sludge tho. if i put piece of timber in it its at least 8ft deep and not sludged up. think its got surface water piped into it also. might get farmer next door to empty it 1st and see what happens. i was warned about what not to use in it before we moved in. its defo a foul water tank tho! by the smell of it.
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:20 am
by msh paving
if its full off water there's 2 reason's possible, the soakaway pipes are below groundwater level and the water is running back in,
the stormdrains from the roof are piped into it which is a big no no 
put some drain dye down gutter and check if it comming into tank,
or a simple problem as the inlet is blocked with sanitary products of somer kind
septic tanks need desludging every 12-18 monthes read the klargester info online,the sludge does not just go away,i have sorted out lots off tanks due to ground water comming back and not desludged
if you can afford to do it i would replace with a bio treament plant, the work evey day and the water run off is able to go anywhere dyke,river ,soakaway,leagally i fit 3-4 off thease a year MSH
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 5:32 pm
by lutonlagerlout
has it got "klargester" on it anywhere ,have done a few of these but as i recall we just shingled round the outlet pipes,probably silted up by now
LLL
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 6:46 pm
by flowjoe
Sounds like a bottle tank of some description, probably a klargester or balmoral.
Its usually the soak-away that packs up, i would get it emptied if there is a steady flow into the tank from the outlet then the soak-away has saturated.
The outlet on a tank if the neck has not been cut down will be around 900/1000mm, the soak-away could be 100mtrs of perforated pipe or a metre of pipe with a half brick over the end.?
A bit concerned about the rise in levels after rainfall, as MSH says rainwater should not pass through the tank. If the tank is sound there are now conversion kits that can be installed to turn it into a treatment plant.
Strangely enough i have done plenty of tanks in your area and people think, Oh Good Sand, installing a soak-away will be a doddle.
Unfortunately a fine sand will clog easily with grease, fibres etc and the soak-away can fail, and there are usually ground water issue to be considered as well.
Could be a number of things but as already mentioned get it emptied first of all.
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:31 pm
by topgrafter2007
cheers guys, will get the dye out tomorrow and see what happens! found another tank under the drive today!! do they tend to use seperate one for surace water? funds wont stretch to changing system at mo im afraid. so need to suss where the soakaway is i guess, dig into it and see what it looks like...
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:45 pm
by flowjoe
Could be the original brick tank if the house pre-dates the bottle tank.
Might be a filter chamber full of stone/clinker which would be easy enough to sort out if thats the cause of the problem.
Let us know how it develops
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:55 pm
by topgrafter2007
nah its green plastic tank Fjoe! going to get it emptied asap and see were me drain dye shows up! it was installed bout 12 year ago so soakaway could be naff by now. i used to begrudge paying united utilities! lol ???