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Converting Septic tank / cesspit to Rainwater Storage!

Cottage CompostCottage Compost Posts: 496
edited June 2021 in Problem solving
Just moved into a new house.... well it's not new it's about 70yrs old ish.  Having sneezed at an old shed that was already falling down, i've discovered what looks like either a septic tank or cesspit underneath it!  It looks in good condition, built / lined with modern concrete blocks with a capacity of i'd guess about 16cu mtrs.   It's empty, well it has roughly 2" of water in the bottom, that's all.

I'm confident that it is no longer used, but my water company are visiting to explore fitting a water meter in the not too distant future and i will be asking them to have a look at it at the same time.  The searches i had done say that there are no shared / public drains etc within the boundaries of the property.   The property is connected to mains sewerage services.

Has anybody converted one of these to store rainwater by lining it with something?

I was planning on buying half dozen IBC tanks to store collected rainwater for the garden, but i'm now having a rethink!!

Posts

  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    You've obviously latched on to the basic function of the tank which is to allow its contents to seep away, so I'd say you'll need to thoroughly dry the thing out, even the 2", before either spraying several coats of some sort of sealer over all surfaces, or screeding plasticised cement on them.  Hopefully the experts will add their two penn'orth but I imagine you'll have problems getting the interior dry initially AND keeping it that way when you get rain.
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