Polluted ground
Neil Perry
Posts: 2
We would be grateful for some advice please. Has anybody had this problem? Our next door neighbour's faulty septic tank has leaked into our garden leaving an unsightly black stain and slime on the bare soil where we wish to re-seed with grass, having recently reduced a willow tree by 60 % to provide more light for the grass. The issue of the septic tank is the subject of a dispute with the neighbour and the local authority have told him to get his drainage system fixed.
What advice would you give about our intention to re-seed? Would you suggest that we remove the affected soil to a depth that removes the black polluted earth and replace with fresh soil before seeding? Or will it clear up naturally in time assuming the problem is fixed?
With grateful thanks,
N & G of Three Oaks near Hastings
Posts
I think your best bet is to get the council environmental health people involved. It's serious pollution and your neighbour will be liable for the costs of the clean up.
Grass will be your best option, however the harmful organisms left in the soil will take time to disappear. My personal view is the area needs to be fenced off, and the soil regularly tested until levels of pollution drop to acceptable levels.
I would get professional advice, again your neighbour will be liable for these costs and any remedial measures you may have to take.
Let's hope your neighbour is insured.
I'd wait til the drainage problem is sorted before you do anything.
Don't forget that the contents of septic tanks and all other waste was dug into the soil in times gone by. It's good for the plants. It's only a bit of sh.....
In the sticks near Peterborough
I agree with Nut - wait until the problem is sorted before doing any work on that area.
And I agree, don't panic about contamination - I grew up in a very rural area where everybody had septic tanks, most were created either prior or just post WW2 and they were built to much lower standards than nowadays, with a trench and soakaway for overflow at times of heavy rain - there was an area of black bogginess surrounded by a circle of tall dark green healthy looking grass and weeds in most gardens.
As children we were told not to play in those areas and we didn't .......... but that was the end of the matter.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I think Dave's right in that you should get the local council involved, especially as they are already aware of a problem with your neighbour's drainage system. Any remedial work should not be at your expense!
I know that this sort of waste was dug into the soil in times gone by - it's still spread sometimes in some circumstances by those firms which deal with septic tank emptying. If you have a septic tank system, when you have to get it emptied you need to get a certificate from the firm involved, who presumably have some sort of licence and have to comply with various regulations ref disposal. If the firm which empties the tank doesn't issue certificates, get someone with the proper licensing/certification to deal with it instead.
One of the problems is that these days septic tanks won't just contain what you might call "normal" human waste - there'll be some additional chemicals too - just think of all the bleach and lavatory cleaners people use. Lots of people who've always had a mains drainage system don't sometimes understand - when they move to the country and don't have access to mains drains - that you have to be a bit careful as to what you flush!
Septic tank land here, but experienced neighbours, not strangers to the system. I'm lucky in that it's impossible for anyone else's tank to overflow onto my land.
I get the farmer's sprayed chemicals instead
In the sticks near Peterborough
Hi Nut - there are several sorts of systems these days - far far removed from the sort which until very recently were the "norm". I think there's one type where the tank is part-buried in the ground and made from some sort of water-permeable material. The contents are supposed to be "semi-digested" in such a way that just pure water seeps out - or so they say! I'm not sure I'd be all that confident about it though because you need really well-drained land to start with, I reckon, for that to work properly. They seem to use this sort of system for barn conversions hereabouts - where the farm buildings are converted into several dwellings and all share the same drainage system.
My septic tank system is now about 50+ years old - twin brick-built chambers with the eventual run-off going through a plastic perforated pipe which is buried in a trench about 4ft below ground along the hedgerow in the field below. This pipe was placed on a gravel bed in the bottom of the trench, and then covered with quite a bit of gravel before being back-filled with the earth which was dug out in the first place. It's obviously a larger capacity than the house really needs - I've only had to have it emptied three times in the last 23 years. It's quite useful really, in that it really saves quite a bit of money - water rates are far lower if you don't have access to mains drains and if (like me) you have a water meter as well.
p.s. I think Dove's talking about a cess-pit, rather than a septic tank system. These days I think one would say "tanks OK - pits definitely not"!
One thing puzzles me; a proper septic tank or a plastic holding tank are both about 3' below ground level. So why is there a stain appearing at ground level? I think the neighbour/council need to get one of those chaps in with a camera on a wire to see exactly what is going on, and actually that should be paid for by the neighbour's house insurance (let's pray they have some)
Your system sounds like ours hcf, built in 1960. OH has redug the final part to try and achieve a good soakaway and I think it's worked.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Hello again - sounds as though you've had to do what was needed here about 20 years ago, ref a better soakaway. The last time I had the system emptied & cleaned - a couple of months ago now - the chap said "it's a good system, this one! They don't make them like this nowadays".
This for Artjak - The lids of the two adjoining tanks in the system here are at ground level, and the brick chambers are approx 4' x 4' x 4'. What happens is that the waste goes through the drains into the first tank, the heavy/semi-solid stuff settles in the bottom part of the first chamber and when the level reaches a certain height the (mostly) water at the top drains into the second chamber. This settles too, and eventually the (by then much cleaner/clearer) liquid passes into the run-off pipe when the level in the second tank reaches a certain height. In other words, the tanks don't simply fill up, thus needing to be emptied. It can - and does - sometimes take years, depending on the construction and sizes.
It sounds to me as though there may well be some sort of blockage in the OP's neighbour's system - tree roots are sometimes the cause. The fact that the OP mentions a willow tree raises the issue - willows are notorious for having a large and vigorous root-spread.