2 septic tanks in parallel

jca1

Hi,
our house built in the 90s has a standard waste water system with percolation area and concrete septic tank. the system is currently failing in that the first chamber of the tank is consistently blocked by sludge even though it has been emptied less than 6 months ago. i believe the tank is too small for the house (it was upgraded from bungalow to dormer before we bought). outside of straight out replacing the tank with a bigger one, has anyone put 2 tanks in parallel to expand capacity? i know 2 tanks connected serially is done but that wont fix my problem unless i put a much bigger tank before the existing one which is pretty much the same as replacing. any advice would be much appreciated.

Poor Uncle Tom

You need to have your site assessed and have the response matrix worked out to see if a septic tank is even suitable for your site now, given that your tank was installed in the 90's and for a different house means your current system probably isn't suitable and you will need planning permission to replace it.

jca1

thanks for the reply. i am assuming what you mean by a septic tank no longer being suitable is that we would need to consider a more modern system such as a bio-mechanical or bio-cycle system.

muffler

jca1 wrote: »

we would need to consider a more modern system such as a bio-mechanical or bio-cycle system.

Only after having tests carried out will that be determined but it is likely though. In any event it could be money well spent.

Remember that the Hogan gang will be coming to a septic tank near you in the near future

Poor Uncle Tom

muffler wrote: »

Remember that the Hogan gang will be coming to a septic tank near you in the near future

That lot could do with being flushed, and not with success either....;)

Poor Uncle Tom

jca1 wrote: »

.... we would need to consider a more modern system such as a bio-mechanical or bio-cycle system.

muffler wrote: »

Only after having tests carried out will that be determined but it is likely though. In any event it could be money well spent.

Attempting to rectify a poor situation now would be a waste of money, have your site tested to find out what the problems are. It could be as simple as a missing Tee section on the inlet pipe of the existing tank or it could be that you need an entire new treatment system and polishing filter requiring planning permission, you won't know until you have it looked at by a professional.

jca1

i had a site assessment carried out a couple of years ago because the system was already failing. at the time all that there was past the tank was a soak pit which had, surprise surprise, blocked up and stopped working.
a site survey was done to determine an appropriate percolation area given the current house. that fixed that problem.
hopefully that site assessment can re-used somewhat.

Poor Uncle Tom

If the assessment was carried out in line with the EPA's Code of Practice it should be usable, if it wasn't it will need to be done again.