On Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:08:10 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sun, 09 Aug 2009 17:32:37 +0100, John Rumm wrote:

Anyone got a ballpark figure for the cost of having a cesspool pumped
out?

If you really mean a cesspool it must be pretty big if you don't have
it done every few weeks.

Strictly speaking it is a cesspool (probably 4 x 5 x 8' brick built
chamber in the ground) which also has an outlet. The outlet then runs
off our property an apparently into the next door farm's Klargester. So
its main purpose in life seems to be to accumulate sludge, and allow
some decomposition to occur. Previous owners apparently only rarely had
it emptied, but I have a feeling with more of us living here it out to
be done more regularly. I shall have to go have a prod with a drain rod
and see what the sludge level is.

That's a septic tank, and it sounds like a good system, assuming that
the output does go to a proper disposal system (and you keep up a good
relationship with the farmer).

Apparently sludge builds up at 0.2l perp person per day or less once
the anaerobic digestion is working properly. So with your 4.5 cu.m.
tank half full and a 4 person household, that works out to a 7-8 year
desluding interval. (+/- quite a lot as there could be lots of
variables.)

Bill