Soakaway issues

[Warren Carr]

Hi all,

5 years ago I moved into my 8 year old Bungalow, next door neighbours Bungalow was built 5 years before ours and it was the same builder who built both, we both have treatment plants and soakaways which was working fine.

3 years ago our neighbouring old couple sold up and a new couple moved in again no issues.
however 18 months ago another 4 family members have since moved in with them.

Sadly for the last 18 months i have been having constant issues, paying out every 2 weeks paying to have my tank emptied, my front garden always seem sodden and i just cant seem to drain my land.

I have now just found out that my neighbours soakaway is under our soakaway on our land, as their tank is always full they use a pump to drain of the excess water into the road drain which in turn goes into the watercourse on the other side of the road.

So in a way, my soakaway is making theirs worse, and theirs making mine worse.

Its so bad now my other neighbour has had to put a drain in as their land is a foot lower than ours and is receiving a huge amount of water.

Does anyone have any recommendations for me?

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

First thing is if they are pumping out their own tank as you describe they are acting illegally. Septic Tanks can only be emptied by Licenced Contractors, who will ensure correct disposal of the effluent removed. Secondly, if they are putting effluent into the road drains, (and then the watercourse), then that too is illegal and they are causing a pollution. First instance, contact the Environment Agency and report their actions.

Secondly, sounds like you both need to look at an alternative method for treating your sewage. Depending on your current setup, a packaged Treatment Plant is not cheap, but will produce a quality of final effluent that is permissible to discharge directly into a watercourse.

I presume you are aware of the latest legislation on Septic Tanks? Septic tanks and treatment plants: permits and general binding rules - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 

[Warren Carr]

Thank you kindly for replying Hugh.

These are both treatment plants so not septic tanks, they both produce treated water, but their soakaway is on my land and it seems mine is on top, thus completely saturating my land.

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

These are both treatment plants so not septic tanks, they both produce treated water, but their soakaway is on my land and it seems mine is on top, thus completely saturating my land.

Hopefully that will make life easier then! Not sure what the ground makeup is there, (and that's assuming the correct percolation tests were done prior to work commencing), but given the soakaway(s) have failed so soon after installation there is clearly a fundamental issue with their capacity and/or ability to disperse the amount of water required. Recent weather conditions in some parts of the country wont help anything, but I'd have expected a soakaway from a build of that vintage to have been properly sized and constructed.

You arent going to replace a soakaway without major upheaval and excavations, and then you need next door on board and willing to contribute to the costs incurred. Long term, given the Treatment Plants should be able to produce a satisfactory quality of final effluent for disposal, I'd be looking at the possibility of a pumping station to serve both properties, and discharge into the nearby watercourse.

 

[IT Minion]

This should have been identified during your purchase as part of existing covenants.

 

[Diver Fred]

Why does this sound like the neighbours have changed something - like switching off the treatment plant or the soakaways are blocked (with plastic)?

 

[blup]

There must/will be an engineering solution, but will it be effective and do the title deeds allow you to recover a contribution from your neighbour. A suitable engineering survey would give financial perspective, which, coupled with a valuation of the property if nothing is done, would enable you balance the cost of the works versus the loss, if any, on a sale.

Blup

 

[Diver Fred]

Guess you are in a rural area. Has there been any work in the area that could have affected land drains?
e.g. A heavy tractor working in the fields and breaking the pipes, A company pulling in Cables or Fibre, A company putting new ducts in and breaking the land drain route. New housing estate in the area?