Failed Septic Tank Soakaway?

Navigation: Septic Tank Soakaway Problems, Sewage Treatment Plant or Septic Tank?

Soakaway Blocked?

Our friendly and supportive staff will assist you every step of the way. If you have a failed septic tank, Allerton can:

• Repair it
• Add a Soakaway
• Make a Septic Tank Conversion
• Replace it

However, we also offer many more services and products beyond that with great value for money.

You might want to keep in mind that the treatment of sewage is important when it comes to the valuation of your property. Having a fully working system means a lot when a house is being surveyed. Therefore, you should see it as an investment, not a repair.  

We are more than happy to help fix your problem. Contact us and we will be happy to make a site visit free of charge.

What Causes the Septic Tank Soakaway to Fail?

The soakaway starts filling up from day one and the FOG used in cooking is not broken down by anaerobic bacteria. Soakaways start to block from day one.

Gradually all the soil gets blocked so that water can no longer escape. If the water backs up in the Septic Tank so that the level of water rises above the Tee on the outlet pipe then the FOG, the main part of the floating solides instead of being retained, escapes!

The FOG soon smothers the soil and the good aerobic bacteria is prevented from breaking down the the organic matter. The soakaway is very soon not fit for anything.

Septic Tank Emptying

The water between the floating solids and the sinking solids is called the settlement zone. This should be about a metre deep, giving time for the fine solids to settle onto the bottom. If the floating solids accumulate at the top, and the sinking solids accumulate at the bottom, then clearly the zone between them gets smaller - meaning that the water travels faster through the tank.

By speeding up the rate of flow, the solids don’t have time to settle out. This means that raw sewage ends up in the soakaway! This is why the Septic Tank should be emptied once a year.

About Septic Tanks

A Septic Tank is a tank in the ground which partially treats raw sewage before the dirty water goes into a soakaway.

For many generations Septic Tanks were the standard way of treating sewage. Although the effluent should go into a soakaway, sometimes it goes illegally into the river system (including ditches). Environmental guidelines have changed recently, so it is important to ensure your Septic Tank is up to date.  A Septic Tank works by:

1. The raw sewage is directed downwards by a T shaped inlet pipe.

The idea is that the sinking solids settle at the bottom, and the floating solids float on the surface. -Floating solids are composed of fats, oils and greases (FOG).

2. To prevent the floating solids escaping, we have a similar T shaped outlet pipe.

If the water in the soakaway gets above the top of this T pipe, the floating solids can escape.

Desludging

If the man doing the desludging happens to break the Tee on the Outlet pipe then clearly all the floating solids, including FOG, simply flow out into the soakaway once the Septic Tank is full, usually after a few days. No one notices but the soakaway now has to cope with the worst part of the organic matter.