Cesspit tips, dos and don'ts

Thank you very much for all your replies.
I do mean a cesspit, not a septic tank. I understand about the regulations, but I am not in Britain and have been told that this is our only option. I take note of the necessity for care in construction, and appreciate the advice.

A sceptic tank needs a soak away and emptying at regular intervals depending on usage. You will pay no sewerage bills just a water bill. Be careful what goes down there, some chemicals are not good but usually it says on the bottle, and do not flush anything down other than toilet paper. I have a product called Muck Munchers which I flush down once a month to keep the bacteria in the tank and the tank itself healthy.

When we moved here we had an old septic tank ( which needed no electricity ) but we replaced it with a domestic sewage treatment plant( to meet up to date environmental regulations) as we are not on mains drainage. It has to be serviced then the sludge emptied annually.We are careful not to use bleach or any chemicals that the system cannot filter or process into pure water. Other limitations are how much water the system can process- so a maximum of 2 wash loads a day - and obviously less in wet weather. Heavy rain can at times overwhelm the system!

We have a waste treatment plant, similar no doubt to that mentioned by David. It takes all our waste, from the toilet and sinks. It is serviced annually but doesn't always need emptying as there are only two of us here all the time plus visitors. Ours is beside a stream and discharges clean water into it but I would imagine that it would be OK with a soakaway.

When it was installed we were told it would cope with household chemicals, including a moderate amount of bleach (not that I'm a compulsive bleach user anyway).

It sounds as though it's a lot less bother than a septic tank.

Well the advice always used to be to throw a dead badger into it! When we moved into a remote country cottage 40+ years ago we worried about the septic tank. One of the first things we did was get it emptied. Once we got used to living with it we realised that if the weather was very wet it would almost fill up, and when the weather was very dry it practically dried up. We lived there for 20 years and never touched it again (and no badgers were harmed!)

PS try not to use bleach or other strong cleaning product that can destroy the bugs that eat up the faeces.

I had a house with a septic tank at one time. It seemed to work fine and didn't seem any different from being one mains drainage except the septic tank man (not a career many would choose) used to come round once a year to make sure it was still draining OK.

Cesspit is just a holding tank and will need regular emptying. Different to a septic tank

We have, until now, always lived out in the sticks so no mains drains. We’ve had cesspits which were big concrete underground containers which we had emptied annually. We have had septic tanks which have needed soakaways which have worked well but eventually the land becomes contaminated. We have had a septic tank draining to a reed bed which was the best system of all.
In the last house, we installed a domestic sewage system according to new laws. Still had to be emptied annually but worked well. Definitely the way to go.

Yes, that was terrible.

I am reminded of the poor lady and her dog who were thrown into a cesspit under their home by her vile second husband. He nearly got away with it but a neighbour reminded Police there was an extra cesspit under the garage. The Police had been unaware.

Gwyllt

As Barleyfields says and do get someone who knows what they are doing it’s not as straightforward as just digging a hole

I’ve seen some disasters caused by cowboys installing underground tanks it’s not cheap or easy.

As Barleyfields says and do get someone who knows what they are doing it’s not as straightforward as just digging a hole

I assume you mean a cesspit rather than a septic tank? You will need planning permission and building regulations consent to install one so you need to read up on the building regs.

You need a second opinion, isolated properties would usually install a waste treatment plant, Klargester is one brand amongst others, it will need emptying once or twice a year.
A cesspit has no outfall and will need emptying much more often, that will be expensive, and would be a last resort where there is no drainage or soak away.