Septic tank registration

[jotec]

I have just found that I am supposed to register with the EA that we have a septic tank, despite it having been in use for 25 years.
I have never heard of this before, am I in a a minority of 1?
What is the implication of registering or not and why is this being done?
Dick

[Baz]

Why? you need to ask? So they can charge you a fee for registering it and having it inspected of course.

[BruceB]

I needed a discharge consent and land drainage consent when putting in a packaged sewage treatment plant beside our river.
Whether you need to I am not sure, but this page might help.
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/topics/water/110593.aspx
I do recall from my research at the time, about 5 years ago, that there were many people around here using septic tanks that just overflowed to the river without treatment, but that is never legal nowadays, whatever was considered acceptable in the past.
Regards
Bruce

[billt]

I believe that there was a stealth law change a little while ago introducing a requirement to register all sewage treatment plants that aren't connected to mains drainage. Thought that it might have been abandoned by the new administration, but it still seems to be happening.

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/118753.aspx tells you how to apply, but doesn't give any background about the reasons for the change in legislation. As there doesn't seem to have been any publicity at all, I doubt that they will get many registrations!

The ostensible reason will be to improve effluent quality and reduce water pollution incidents. It just looks like more jobs for bureaucrats to me.

[ecogeorge]

I have just found that I am supposed to register with the EA that we have a septic tank, despite it having been in use for 25 years.
I have never heard of this before, am I in a a minority of 1?
What is the implication of registering or not and why is this being done?
Dick

Hmmmmm.  more jobs for the boys me thinks. Once you've registered they'll want to inspect , charge a fee for the privilage and tell you it doesn't meet some obscure european directive that no one else  follows.
It's all part of the nanny state we are fast approaching like bleating lambs.
My advice is use your common sense, check outflows if appropriate and just keep quiet.
Just don't use it to grow organic cucumbers -you'll upset the germans like the spanish have.
rgds George.
 

[BruceB]

Whilst I have some sympathy for the keep your head down approach, registration is free as I read it and no doubt in due course it will be added to the list of questions that solicitors ask when you come to sell your house.
Regards
Bruce

[jotec]

Thanks for the replies. I think I will wait till I hear something 'officially'. The system works fine and the Council know about it. It passed building regs so I will stay below the radar for the moment.
Dick

[jwbellarby@gmail.com]

you will certainly need if you sell the house. in scotland its a standard question on the forms. we had to register when selling our old house and building this house. registration was free

James

[Eleanor]

We had to register ours with SEPA in 2008 when it was installed and around the same time it became law that all tanks had to be registered retrospectively. I can't imagine SEPA going around actively checking individual installations unless they are made aware of a problem. They do however have a policy that settlements with a population equivalent of 2000 or more should have mains drainage and they are probably using the information to further this cause. It's a bit debatable as to how far a settlement extends. In a village not too far from here the residents were told that they would have to go onto mains drainage unless they paid a large fee not to. There is quite a lot of building going on and I wouldn't be surprised to find it going the same way here. Then there will be street lights, pavements, kerbs, roundabouts ...  

[biff]

over ere in old oireland,
                       we dont call em septic tanks any more.we call em waste treatment plants,,  haw haw haw,,  har har har,, glug glug, they come wif a number and a reg and after a few years they stop working ,little compressor burns out and the poo goes solid,,,,so wot we do is build a large tank next door,redirect the pipes in and out of the new tank, plant compressor and housing above new tank and bobs yer aunt.
      then we build percolation beds and reed beds and we still call it a waste treatment plant.it might look like a septic tank and pong quietly like one but no,, its a modern up to date god fearing waste treatment plant.
                                                                                 biff

[dhaslam]

It isn't surprising that these things are banned in most  states in the US.   Mine was a condition of for planning permission, cost over €5000 plus installation and  has already stopped working.  It just trips the  switch when it is turned on. The pumps were  only installed in November 2009.    The problem with these things is that when the pumps stop working  they can put out fairly raw sewage.

[mysterons]

I've got an Allerton treatment plant, 10 person model. Fitted as part of planning permission when the house went up in 1995. Costs a fortune to run on 5mins on/5 mins off timer and 250w pump.
The original fitted pump, Grundfos KP150 lasted 2 years before it started tripping the rcd every time it came on. the replacement cost £120 back then. I've never got more than a couple of years use out of any of the Grundfos pumps I've had to fit over the years and the cost has now risen to over £300 a pop. For a while I resorted to replacing them with cheap £30 dirty water pumps, could have fitted ten for the price of a Grundfos but of course cheapo's didn't last much more than 6/9 months in service.
I've got an Ebara Best One MA down there now, looks identical to the original KP150 but 1/3rd of the price.

[BruceB]

I fitted a 12 person packaged sewage treatment plant (Biodigester) which has no moving parts inside it, just air blown through by a pump to agitate the mixture.  Seems a reliable way to do it.
Regards
Bruce

[Ivan]

Bruce,

Does it produce gas? If so, what's your views on it?

[BruceB]

I have been pleased and impressed by it.  The compressor I keep in the cellar with my boiler and thermal store, so no external electricity or moving parts.

The maintenance regime is
- clean the air filters every year;
- and change the pump diaphragms every 2/3 years or when they go (I changed them for the first time after 5 years a few months ago when they had both broken.  It is a secoh pump and diaphragm kits are available.
- Clean the sludge out every year or two.

It does not smell unless you have a power cut for a couple of days or both the diaphragms need replacing.  And as soon as air is pumped through it again the bacteria start working and any smell goes after a few hours.

This is the beast
http://www.biodigester.co.uk/biodigester-model-t12.asp

It was fun digging the hole with my JCB I had at the time.

Regards
Bruce