Entire waste water system in trouble!

Stinicker

My family home was built over 30 years ago and this week the main drain got blocked once again and this is an biennial event. But it got the worst blocking ever this time. I had to rod it and use the powerwasher with a drain cleaning hose to free it and I also had to dig it up in two places to get the rods and powerhose in again to free it.

All the greywater from the sinks, baths, dishwashers and roof downpipes are fed into this system into a deep manhole and from there it goes into the soakpit of the septic tank around 150 metres away and both the soakpit and septic tanks are located outside my property in the land of the family who the site was originally purchased from over 30 years ago. To add to this the pipe travels through my neighbours site which was also purchased from the same family around 15 years ago.

The sewerage pipe and the grey water pipe travel together close to each other underground. To give an understanding of how outdated things are the grey water pipe is a mixture of 4" inch sewerage pipe for the first 50 metres and then 4" land drainage pipe which has been bodged onto 2" land drainage pipe another 30 metres down and it is continuously blocking at these two choke-points. The sewerage pipe is sewer pipe all the ways to the septic tank and never gets blocked as it only carries sewerage to the septic tank.

I have registered my septic tank for inspection and it will fail for sure and I'd wish to get it inspected as soon as possible; get it failed and begin to plan for a new system and I will need grant assistance as every single thing will need to be replaced and relocated. The septic tank leechate flows out of the soakpit and into a stream which is located literally 1 metre from the soakpit and this stream flows straight into a river which has a pool less than 50 metres from my septic tank and soakpit. This is certain to fail as the sewerage is not properly treated and the greywater runs almost raw into the stream and onto the river. The crazy thing is this was all approved by the local authority at the time planning permission was granted.

I have no right away into the land where my septic tank and soakpit is located but I am on very good terms with the landowner and we are going to legalise it properly putting it on the map and giving me full access should the system get passed.

I am however on very bad terms with the neighbour next to me where the pipes run underground. He also built a timber shed over the pipes and he has a toilet in there too which he connected to my sewer pipe. I will have to get in a digger to dig all the ways to lay a new grey water pipe and demolish his shed in the process, something I will just do as they were told not to build the shed over our pipes when it was built years ago anyway. My father had multiple legal battles with this guy before and we won them and forced them to close down their business they were operating in breach of planning permission right next to us. He has since moved away and rents the house now.

The land is 100% peat bog and rock and there is very little natural percolation that I'd know of, the site was originally cleaned out and then trunked up by 5 - 7 metres, there was a large rock in the middle of the site protruding out and this was broke and leveled and the house built straight up on it. Planning standards were different back then and today we are trying to clear up the mess left behind from the past.

To add more misery the back yard where all these pipes are got new tarmac only 5 years ago and this will need to be dug up if pipe have to be moved to a new site. I know it will cost every penny of €15k to sort this problem and it is not money I am prepared to spend because the council gave planning permission for this system on day one and the entire planning system is totally corrupt with TD's and County Councillors pushing through planning in places where houses should never have been built in the first place. This has happened all over Ireland with politicians getting planning in a corrupt manner. It must be put right but I am willing to pay only a small amount.

Thousands more are in the same situation as me and I'd like to get it rectified now during the summer months when there is good weather.

knotknowbody

Do you have space to locate a waste water treatment system on your own site, I would try to install one on my own site and forget about the old one and all the hassle it brings if I could. You are facing into a lot of hard battles otherwise.

If/when the old one fails the inspection, I would not expect the council to have an issue with relocating it location, in fact I would expect them to be in favour of, or maybe even require it be relocated, so it is within the site of the dwelling it serves, I wouldn't expect relocating it to have any impact on grant aiding of the system either, so if it is possible to fit it on your site I think that might be the best road to go.

Poor Uncle Tom

Just a few things pop out and come to mind from reading your post:

a) roof downpipes should not be put anywhere near your septic tank system, the system is being needlessly flooded with shock rainwater loads.
b) your greywaters are effectively running raw to a river.
c) your system is in place since, about 1980, a percolation area should have been used not a soakpit.
d) there should still be a public planning file of what should actually been installed in accordance with planning permission.
e) no right-of-ways, leaways or easements written onto any deeds, apparently.
f) TD's or Councillors, however corrupt, don't grant planning permissions.

Just a question, if you are willing to pay a small amount to upgrade your treatment system, who do you think should pay the remainder?

muffler

Stinicker, apart from blaming everyone else for the mess you find yourself in and telling us how you are going to commit a criminal act have you a question or is your post just a rant?