Flyfisher
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Do you have it emptied regularly, or just when the "stuff" is, er, visible?
- Thread starter robgil
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JoceAndChris
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:lol: I'll join you in the who-knows-what's-happening cess pit conundrum. I have no idea if ours is a cess pit, a septic tank, a soakaway or just a big hole. It's very old (Georgian drainage stuff there according to previous owner) and full of 30 foot tree roots and no-one ever goes near. We had a tradesman look at it, he pronounced it "sound and good", but, really, how could he know? The less it's thought about the better.
Good luck with your big hole robgil! I've got a concrete path and a tree on top of my underground rainwater thingy if it makes you feel better!
Good luck with your big hole robgil! I've got a concrete path and a tree on top of my underground rainwater thingy if it makes you feel better!
Schoolmarm
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Well it is such a huge chamber that by visible, I meant over a meter below the cast iron lid.
We had it emptied twice after we moved in as it slowed down and blocked the inlet pipe. It never even reaches that pipe now.
We did actually replace that pipe from the house to the tank as there were loads of badly joined clay pipes that had collapsed. We replaced it with three giant long brown plastic pipes and have never emptied it since. I wonder if we didn't do a good enough seal to the tank.
:shock:
We had it emptied twice after we moved in as it slowed down and blocked the inlet pipe. It never even reaches that pipe now.
We did actually replace that pipe from the house to the tank as there were loads of badly joined clay pipes that had collapsed. We replaced it with three giant long brown plastic pipes and have never emptied it since. I wonder if we didn't do a good enough seal to the tank.
:shock:
JoceAndChris
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I'm sure the garden will appreciate it.
JoceAndChris
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Here's a pic of my "soakaway", as you can see, there is little need to buy fertiliser once you have a malfunctioning cess pit. :lol:
worms
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:idea: ?robgil said:
they do bury lpg tanks in your garden , it costs 750 quid though. as for leaks , calor state this on their web site ''A leak of LPG vapour is unlikely to pose any significant ground or water pollution hazard'' , anyhow ive filled the hole with rubble and garden implements and will seal it off tomorrow with concrete . the tank arrives tuesday so still lots to do , well worth working out in the downpours though , we have no hot water in the cottage and we have been here 2 weeks this sunday so im not going to let a hole in the ground stand between me and a hot bath. 
worms
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You know the structure and we don't so I am sure you are right.
I've seen similar concrete structures built around older spring-line water sources ("well" might be too grand a term!), since these are trickle sources and susceptible to low flow rates in summer it might not be surprising to find a pipe from another source linked into it. Difficult to tell from the photo, but the pipe looked more complex to me than would be necessary for a simple input drain and I wondered if it could have had a pump fitted to it at some point in the past.
But your desription of it serving a building higher up is a good one. I have a cast iron tank (open-topped, about 1m deep and 1m x 2m rectangle, half built into the slope of the ground) downhill from the house which may have been to collect the fluid run-off from the stables (for use as a liquid fertiliser) but may equally have been a roadside trough which filled naturally from the groundwater. Having dug out all the rubble infill, it now makes a permanent water-feature, although the level can drop a bit in summer.
I've seen similar concrete structures built around older spring-line water sources ("well" might be too grand a term!), since these are trickle sources and susceptible to low flow rates in summer it might not be surprising to find a pipe from another source linked into it. Difficult to tell from the photo, but the pipe looked more complex to me than would be necessary for a simple input drain and I wondered if it could have had a pump fitted to it at some point in the past.
But your desription of it serving a building higher up is a good one. I have a cast iron tank (open-topped, about 1m deep and 1m x 2m rectangle, half built into the slope of the ground) downhill from the house which may have been to collect the fluid run-off from the stables (for use as a liquid fertiliser) but may equally have been a roadside trough which filled naturally from the groundwater. Having dug out all the rubble infill, it now makes a permanent water-feature, although the level can drop a bit in summer.
this is a diagram of what it looks like ,View attachment 1
and this is where it is in relation to the house and other drainage,
View attachment 1
so i am pretty sure its a cesspit , either way its now a concrete tank full of rubble under a concrete slab , perhaps 700 years from now Tony baldrick Robinson and time team will dig it up and figure out exactly what it is.
and this is where it is in relation to the house and other drainage,
View attachment 1
so i am pretty sure its a cesspit , either way its now a concrete tank full of rubble under a concrete slab , perhaps 700 years from now Tony baldrick Robinson and time team will dig it up and figure out exactly what it is.
Schoolmarm
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JoceAndChris said:
:lol: :lol:
Schoolmarm
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So have you moved in then Rob? 8)
Schoolmarm
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With wife and all? Congratulations!!