Up until a month ago my semi detached cottage shared a septic system with neighbour. They have installed their own septic system leaving me with the old system. However they have not been fully decomissioned from the old system as rainwater still going into it (it's an old system). They refusing to contribute to shared system however it is being part used and have told me rainwater is separate which is clearly not due to the gutters and downpipes! With this in mind can i split the gutter? My contractor has said they can block off the drains so that it is 100% separate but rainwater from roof still a concern and as i am having new system built i dont want to have to pay to deal with next doors drains/rainwater
Neighbour draining rainwater into my septic tank (Ed.)
- Thread starter ft1973
- Start date
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They have a responsibility to deal with rainwater to be discharged on within their own curtilage
whether you can force them to do that is another thing
could you just cap off the pipe coming from your neighbour
whether you can force them to do that is another thing
could you just cap off the pipe coming from your neighbour
What actually is the issu? Its a septic tank which I assume has an outlet that goes off somewhere to drain? Maintenance consists of having sucked out every now and again, your neighbour has stopped depositing gross solids into the system so you can leave emptying to twice as long. His rainwater will help to flush out the drains to the septic tank.
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Septic tanks often have a submersible pump to pump fluids out to a soakaway.
When ours failed a few years ago the tank compnay came out to replace it, (landlord pays the charges for emptying/maintenance), and the guy replacing it said we had a water leak in the house as water was still flowing. After checking backwards we got to the inspection chamber by the back door. Opening the lid he discovered that we were on a shared system and the water was actually coming from next door. What he said next was, all shared cesspits, whether it's between 2 properties or more, is now the responsibility of the local water authority and they should be emptied free of charge. I notified the LL but don't know if he has done anything about it. We just get a call from him every 12 months to say an appointment has been made for it to be done.
It may be worth a chat with your water company to see what the situation is with your system. It may still be classed as shared.
When ours failed a few years ago the tank compnay came out to replace it, (landlord pays the charges for emptying/maintenance), and the guy replacing it said we had a water leak in the house as water was still flowing. After checking backwards we got to the inspection chamber by the back door. Opening the lid he discovered that we were on a shared system and the water was actually coming from next door. What he said next was, all shared cesspits, whether it's between 2 properties or more, is now the responsibility of the local water authority and they should be emptied free of charge. I notified the LL but don't know if he has done anything about it. We just get a call from him every 12 months to say an appointment has been made for it to be done.
It may be worth a chat with your water company to see what the situation is with your system. It may still be classed as shared.
Nothing to do with water companies, why would it they don't charge you anything for drainage
And??
If they get inudated, they can back up, due to reduced flow through.
It's also possible that the leach field, if any can become contaminated with effluence, (depending on the design and age of the sceptic tank).
But that is no different from what could have happened before the neighbour installed his own septic tank (more so since there would have been twice the solid load flowing to the tank over a set period) so doesn't come into the OP actual concerns
Of course, it could all happen anyway, but it's more likely to happen if there are more homes discharging into the tank, whether it be brown water or rain water.
Except, of course brown water flow tends to be little and irregular. Whereas rain water can be a deluge, persistent and often.
Water.
Water that would flow out of the overflow at the top?Water.
Yes accross the top of the solids, and allowing the solids to drop out.
But if the water flow is too great for the outflow to cope, what do you think will happen?
And if the sceptic tank is nearly due for emptying, what do you think will happen?
And if the leach field has been contaminated by solids, what do you think will happen?
Here's a diagram to help you visualise it, bearing in mind it will probably be an old single compartment sceptic tank.
I think you'll find that overflows the world over are designed to cope with inundation.
It's actually an outlet, but to keep it simple I used the word overflow.
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