Advice
Straight answers to the questions that come up before you are ready to book anything: what a symptom means, what the rules require, and what to check before it turns into a bigger job. Written for rural Shropshire property, where off-mains drainage is a fact of life rather than an afterthought.
Signs your soakaway is failing
The early warnings that a drainage field is on the way out, what they mean, and why acting before winter saves the expensive repair.
Read the article →How often should a septic tank be emptied?
Why once a year is the usual answer, what changes it, and why the interval matters more than almost anything else you can control.
Read the article →Septic tank smells: what causes them and what they mean
What a septic tank smell is usually telling you, which causes are harmless and which are a warning, and when a smell means it is time to act.
Read the article →Selling a house with a septic tank
What conveyancing now asks about off-mains drainage, why compliance surfaces mid-sale, and how to keep a tank from holding up your move.
Read the article →Percolation tests explained
What a percolation test measures, why it decides whether a soakaway is even allowed, and what a failed test means for your options.
Read the article →Trying to work out what a job will cost rather than what it means? The cost guides give honest market ranges, and the guide to the General Binding Rules explains what the law requires of an off-mains property.
Not sure what your system needs?
Describe the problem and we will tell you what you are most likely dealing with, and put you in touch with a local specialist where one covers your area. No charge for that, and no obligation.