STELLING MINNIS WEB SITE
STELLING MINNIS PARISH COUNCIL
CESSPOOLS, SEPTIC TANKS AND MAIN DRAINAGE
home page Index and Contents Stelling Minnis Parish Council page
List of
contractors
Mains drainage Emptying
your cesspool or septic tank Important
information to read
Important - read this if you are not
connected to mains drainage and do not have a sealed cesspool. You may wish to act
by 1/1/2012. Note that since this was written and the article published in
the September issue of the Hardres-Stelling News, the Government have put the
mater on hold for a review – however the recommendation is still to Register,
especially if you are contemplating moving soon.
If
you are connected to mains drains or have a completely self contained cesspool
then you do not need to read on. For
everybody else the following is a summary of a legal requirement for you to
take action before 1st January 2012. Failure to do so could result
in further action being taken by the Environment Agency.
If you are connected to mains drainage
(such as most houses in Bossingham) this won't concern you. If you are not on
mains drainage you will have to decide what kind of a system you have - Is it a
cesspool or a septic tank? A proper cesspool is a sealed tank with no outflow
and it has to be emptied regularly (too often some of you might say). A septic tank
is in effect a mini sewage works. It should have two compartments and method
for the waste water to drain away, usually into land drains in what is called a
drainage or leaching field, or a soakaway. In the Stelling Minnis area they may
drain into a bore hole which has been sunk to the underlying chalk bed because
the land does allow sufficient drainage. The official guidance is that these
should be emptied (desludged) twice a year. In practice they can work well and
many people may not have had them emptied for years. There are also some which
are in between and these are usually older brick cesspools (modern ones are
usually fibre glass) which may have lost some bricks in the side - either
accidentally with age or even on purpose (not done by yourself of course but
some previous resident). In these cases the waste is still foul water and
drains away into the ground. In practice this is illegal as are septic tanks
draining directly onto the land or bore hole without an intermediate filter
chamber. Septic tanks draining via a filter bed to a deep bore hole must also
meet certain other criteria relating to distance from water extraction sources
and ground conditions which prevent the more acceptable land drain (leaching
fields) systems from being used – percolation tests have to be carried out to
prove that the ground is unsuitable for land drainage.
Septic
tanks and other sewage systems which drain into water courses bore holes or the
ground, or multi user sewage systems are required to register with the Environment
Agency before 1st January 2012. This is to comply with a
2008 EU directive regarding the control of pollution from non
mains drainage effluent disposal systems. Septic tanks that discharge directly
into the ground or a bore hole, i.e. not via filtration system, or systems
which are not regularly emptied (desludged), will not be able to be
registered and will require an environmental permit.
Rules and charges were introduced in the
Irish Republic in 2010, and these are the main references that come up if
you Google the subject.
The Environment Agency has now taken up
the directive and hence the guidance notes (updated in July). They say that to
establish the size of the problem they require all property owners with septic
tanks to register them by 2012. There is no charge for registration and
in most cases a permit will also be issued at the same time, both are at no
cost.
In some circumstances where a
registration cannot be accepted then the owner may have to apply for an
environmental permit for which there may be a one off charge, which is
currently £125 and it could involve a site inspection. Examples of circumstances include if you have
not had the tank emptied in the last six months or it is within a given
distance of a drinking water extraction point.
There are other
factors, which can affect the acceptance of registration such as the
volume discharged and the number of residents. The rules also apply to business
premises including farms.
If
you are on the internet then a good starting point, identified by our
Councillor Jeremy Speakman, is this web site:
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/118753.aspx
This contains all the information,
questions and answers and links to gather the information you need to register,
including national grid map reference and a quick calculator for the volume of
liquid discharged based on number of people in the premises (over or under 9
persons) and links to register you sewage system.
The system has been tried by our Clerk
who reported back that the whole process of gathering the information and
registering took about half an hour. The
registration document and permit to discharge were received by e-mail within a
few minutes of completing the process.
The actual registration web page is not user friendly – just scroll to
the bottom of the page after each step to complete the bit of the form for the
next step.
If you are not on the internet then
there is a manual option available via a link from the same web site – you will
need to get a friend to download and print the form for you, go to the library
and use the internet there or obtain a form by post from the environment agency
Tel: 03708 506 506 (Mon - Fri 8am - 6pm)
A copy of the registration and permit
must be filed with the deeds of the property and you should keep receipts as
proof of regular emptying (desludging) and maintenance for 5 years. Property sales could be held up for those
properties where registration and a permit are required and they have not been
obtained.
Cesspool/Septic tank Emptying Service - Options
The
information given below is reproduced in good faith and was based on the best
available. Neither the Stelling Minnis Parish Council nor the Webmaster
accept any liability for any inaccuracies. The onus is on the user to
verify charges and services with their selected contractor before entering into
agreement or binding contract.
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NOTES |
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SOUTHERN CESSPOOL SERVICES 01233 646767 37 Sandyhurst Lane Ashford TN25 4NS
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would give discount for 2x1000 gallon tanks if houses are in same area. |
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SUCKLIFTS 01233 840624 Unit 6 Pivington Mill Ind. Est. Pluckley TN27 0PG
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may give discount if 2/3 loads can be emptied on one journey to Stelling Minnis
We now offer the following services: High Pressure Jetting Repairs & Servicing to Sewage Treatment Plants
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D. BODY 01622 631688 The Paddock Detling Hill, Maidstone
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discount for one journey to 2/3 houses |
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CLEANSING SERVICES GROUP Ltd. 01622 717717 or 0500 053 429 Mills Road Quarrywood Ind. Est.
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known as CSG Probably the only company with a jetting service and could completely flush out a tank . No discounts
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SERCO 0800 0319091 Works & Services depot Kingsmead Road Canterbury
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Canterbury City Council contractor. Willing to serve Stelling Minnis as a new service. Telephone switchboard & ask for cesspool service. At present only operates one tanker but might go to two if there is enough demand. |
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R & R Environmental Services 01233 820270.
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One or two exceptions, which are connected to the Bossingham mains drainage scheme, e.g. Stelling Minnis Primary School, all properties have either septic tanks or cesspools. A few properties, e.g. those on Minnis Green & Minnis Field, have a communal cesspool scheme.
The 2007 Village Appraisal included questions on the arrangements for emptying septic tanks/cesspools and sought to determine if there would be any interest in mains drainage. Unless funding arrangements significantly change or the requirement on Southern Water compels then to provide it, then there is unlikely to be mains drainage provided to any other properties in Stelling Minnis.
Page designed and produced for Stelling Minnis Parish Council by Nick Smith 14 May 2005
updated 3 December 2011
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