Advice please about Spanish Septic Tank

[alig99]

Hi everyone, we have a bit of a problem with our septic tank here in Spain and we would like some advice on how often you have to have them pumped out? We have had our property for 3 years but we've probably only occupied it for about 8 months during that time but its started to over flow, is it normal to have to pump out, effectively every year of occupation? Your experience and advice will be greatly appreciated, thank you Ali

[gerryh]

What sort of septic tank to you have?
Is it simply a hole in the ground?
If so, they are illegal in Spain.
Yes it does need pumping out as it is obviously not working.
A 3 chamber septic tank is what is needed to fully cure the problem.
Cheers
Gerry

[alig99]

We already have a 'proper' chambered septic tank , hence the post, we don't do illegal anything. Of course we already understand that as it is overflowing it needs pumping out, my question is, should it need pumping out after only 8 months use, we think effectively pumping out once a year is excessive we would not expect to have to pump out for 10 years or so, and we would like to know how often people here in Spain have had to pump out their septic tank?

many thanks Ali

[gerryh]

Hi Ali
In what way is it overflowing?
Cleanish water should be coming out of the output pipe.
The first chamber should be nearly full, that is the way they work.
Cheers
Gerry

[julian]

those tanks shouldn´t need pumping out...ever !!!

[alig99]

Hi Gerry,

it dirty water coming out of one of the pipes, there are 3 pipes in all.

Julian, your response is most welcome too we also believe it shouldn't need to be pumped out but we know some things are different here in Spain!

We bought our house from new 3 years ago from a builder that has reputable reputation locally, but we have had a number of problems with the house. Another problem with the septic tank is that its position is too low down the hillside and we are concerned that the gravity will be too much to able to pump the tank anyway.

Any other thoughts welcome. Ali

[chrissiehope]

Ours is a 3 chamber tank which was installed in 2006. We have never needed it pumping out (like you, we are only there on visits maybe 3 or 4 times a year).
Our builder told us it didn't need anything doing to it at all for many years....

I have no idea where the 'clean' water comes out, tho' I do know where the 'gas vent' is

Can you get in touch with the builder and ask him to inspect it, or is it something the town hall would get involved with ?

[Enrique]

Hi alig99,
Maybe you need to review what you put into it......no harsh chemicals.

I feed ours with Sepclean...................

http://www.sepclean.co.uk/

[annfoto]

Check that nothing is connected to that shouldn't be.
When we bought our place, everytime we backwashed the pool filter the tank overflowed, some idiot had connected the waste from the pool to it. A neighbor discovered when he bought his house that his tank overflowed eveyrtime it rained. Someone had connected the terrace drains to it.

[alig99]

We don't use any harsh chemicals so we know that's not likely to be the problem. We think it might be a filter problem. We are getting a guy out today to see if he can advise us, I think the builder has probably not done a good job, he's not interested in the problem when we spoke to him and couldn't/wouldn't say what he fitted. Anyway thanks to all those that have responded. Ali

[gerryh]

We think it might be a filter problem. Ali

What filter?
I didn't think they had or needed a filter?
You mentioned 3 pipes.
Normally there are 2 coming from the top, one to let air in and 1 to let air out.
There should be a larger diameter pipe coming from the bottom, this is the outlet pipe for the clean water.
Where does the dirty water come from?
Have you looked into the inspection hatches?
The inlet chamber should be full, the other chamber with the plastic "balls" in should be empty.
Cheers
Gerry

[alig99]

Hi Gerry, yes that's correct there are 3 pipes coming out. OH has spent the morning digging for the inspection hatch this morning, which he has now found. He has also dug out the pipes and has found that there is a blockage. Anyway just another little thing to put right.
Thanks for you interest and help. Ali

[gerryh]

Hate to say this but if you had to dig for the inspection hatch then I would suggest that the tank hasn't been installed correctly. The 2 inspection hatches should be easy to get at.
If the outlet pipe is blocked then you will have a problem. Again this should be fairly near the ground surface so that the outlet water can be spread over a wide area.
Sort out the outlet pipe and get the tank pumped out. You will probably find that the chamber with the plastic "balls" is full. This will need a good wash out.
Cheers
Gerry

[alig99]

Hi Gerry, yes we think the same that the tank wasn't put in correctly. OH is planning on rectifying the problem properly. Its just some thing we could do without given it should have been done correctly the first time. thanks again Ali

[Devils Advocate]

Hate to say this but if you had to dig for the inspection hatch then I would suggest that the tank hasn't been installed correctly.

Although not necessarily, with the amount of rain last year I think a few of these got covered with loose land slipping, especially on new builds.

[alig99]

With our property only the 3 pipes have ever been in view the inspection hatch has always been buried. OH will be rectifying that too! Ali

[chrissiehope]

My OH (a surveyor) says that the inspection hatches should always be in view. Also (dealing with an earlier posting) even modern 3 chamber septic tanks will need pumping out every so often and depending on useage this can be anything from 1 to 10 years. The micro-organisms could well need topping up every year or so, especially if you use chemical cleaners, washing pawder, dishwasher chemicals, etc.

[julian]

"even modern 3 chamber septic tanks will need pumping out every so often and depending on useage this can be anything from 1 to 10 years"

if you only put what should be put into the tank it will never need pumping out....but if you put the wrong things into it you probably will need to pump it out, just in case anyone has early dinners we´ll leave to the imagination the list of things that should go into the tank, actually the list is very short!

[alig99]

Thanks for everyone's reply. The end of the tale is that OH found the buried inspection hatch,uncovered the tank and pipework, found blockage, local pumping out expert arrived, said type of tank should not need pumping out for 10 years or more but was installed at a time when new to Spain. Upshot of dismantling pipe connection was that the blockage was due to pipe being installed uphill thus blockage occurred due to heavy waste (not saying what you can imagine!) not being cleared sufficiently due to non daily usage. All this equals poor installation. Luckily didn't cost money just a day's hard digging for OH.


Again thanks to everyone for their advice. Ali

[Martin Page]

Just a mute point jerry ... but your are wrong - regarding the pozi negra or hole in the ground septic pit. They are NOT illegal

It is illegal to build a NEW one .

If your going to be pedantic be correct please !