Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Reuse of a septic tank  (Read 4877 times)

honeyend

  • Joined Oct 2011
Reuse of a septic tank
« on: May 01, 2014, 06:42:57 pm »
We are building a new house on the site of existing bungalow( to be demolished) which has a septic tank. I think the drainage field is shot but any way we are putting in a new treatment plant. For planning you have to have soakaways or rainwater recycling  and we have a large enough area to have a SUDS, lagoon or pond, the name changes depending what you use it for but basically its water , with reeds and a some sort of natural filter system before its discharge into the ditch. I want to use the existing septic tank to start treating and store the water, I have found information for doing this from Australia and New Zealand which show how to clean the tank before reuse but can find nothing from the UK. Has any one found any UK information for doing this or had experience. The old septic tank will not be used for black water once decommissioned.
  Also while the house is being built the poor old septic tank is finding it hard to cope with the extra water so I was going to have a go at treating the grey water on a small scale using a holding tank that will pipe the grey water over gravel beds made from any old plastic troughs I can find, has anyone had any experience.

chrismahon

  • Joined Dec 2011
  • Gascony, France
Re: Reuse of a septic tank
« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2014, 09:24:12 am »
I would have thought jet washing whilst pumping out would get it clean enough. New aerated water will break down the few remaining particles and would then give you a tank full OK for watering the garden. But the old tanks are quite small and not much practical use I would think Honeyend.


Grey water can go straight on the garden. Don't use a dishwasher though.

cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: Reuse of a septic tank
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2014, 11:52:41 pm »
Aunt Gin used her redundant ( went on to mains sewage system along with all the others in the village ) brick and concrete septic as a rain water tank . ,
They  didn't even bother washing it out , as any useful juices and bacteria  in the water  made for nutrients when watering the garden .  Just don't top water anything you will eat raw for 10 years of so unless you're going to soak it in a mild Milton or salt water stirrilant ( sp ?)  for a few minutes .

 After about 20 years as a rain tank it was very ,very clean in the tank .
 I pumped it out to clean out any sludge that might have accumulated on the bottom over the years when I renewed the cast iron lid and hip ring for her and found two broken cast iron lids  in about 2 inches of the crud on the bottom .
Strong belief , triggers the mind to find the way ... Dyslexia just makes it that bit more amusing & interesting

 

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