Should I Worry About Sewage Regulations?
In a word, yes! This is an important consideration for anyone who is not connected to mains drainage or who is thinking about buying or selling such a property.
For a comprehensive discussion of sewage related legislation, please visit our sister site UK Septic Tanks where the Septic Tank Registration and Septic Tank Regulations pages will guide you through this tricky topic.
In essence, since the end of 2011 all owners of septic tanks or sewage treatment plants were required to register with the Environment Agency, no matter how old their plant. This is very important, since if not registered (or already in possession of ‘Consent to Discharge’) you could be liable to a substantial fine and closure of your operation.
We also offer a competitive registration service if you need to register your system – please click here for more details.
Read MoreWhat Size Rainwater Harvester Do I Need?
This calculation can get quite involved but in essence you need to think about a number of factors when sizing for rainwater harvesting, otherwise you won’t get the best performance from the system you install. So it’s really important to get the figures right and strike the correct balance between these elements:
• Rainwater yield.
• Rainwater demand.
• Budget.
• Overflow frequency.
• Future proposed applications.
For more details and an on-line calculator please click here to visit our sister website on how to size a rainwater harvesting system.
Read MoreWhat is Rainwater Harvesting?
Saving water, money and the environment are up there on most people’s priorities and that’s where rainwater harvesting comes into its own.
Rainwater harvesting is a way to avoid using mains water for a wide range of applications requiring water but where we don’t need to use drinking water – from watering the garden or washing the car to fire sprinkler, WC flushing and laundry systems. Sometimes rainwater harvesting systems are known as Garden Irrigation Systems.
So, put simply you harvest rain water from roofs, gullies and downpipes, store in an underground tank, pump it and connect so that it’s on demand when you turn on the appropriate tap.
Read MoreHow to size a Cesspit or Cesspool?
Sizing criteria for a cesspit or cesspool is based on a loading of 180 litres per person per day and a cesspit needs to have sufficient capacity to hold the waste for 45 days. The minimum capacity for a cesspit should be 18000 litres then you add 6800 litres per person using the property. So for example a 4 bedroom house will need a 42200 litre capacity cesspit.
Read MoreWhat are some Cesspit and Cesspool issues?
Cesspits can be very smelly – they must be vented to avoid a build up of too much gas inside. The gasses that cesspits and cesspools hold are very toxic so try to avoid inspecting them – some people have passed out and fallen into the tank so beware!
Because they have no soakaway, cesspits that service domestic properties need to be quite large – from 18000 litres capacity and for obvious reasons.
Read MoreWhat is a Cesspit?
Sometimes known as cesspools, a cesspit is simply a sealed tank in the ground in which effluent from your property is held. So it’s like a septic tank but with no soakaway, which means when it’s full it needs emptying.
Although there are plenty of cesspits still around, many owners are considering conversion to a more sustainable option, such as a sewage treatment plant or septic tank.
Normally, cesspits are temporary solutions until a property is connected to mains drainage but if that’s not possible then the above options could save you a lot of money – as you know it’s not cheap to keep emptying cesspits!
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