Cess pit or septic tank?

I can't imagine why anyone would recommend a cesspit over a septic tank in this day and age - unless they own a company which gets paid for coming on regular visits to empty the darned thing.  More likely, I suspect, is that they have no idea of the difference between them.

Firstly - are you sure that there is no mains sewage available wherever your house is?  Obviously that would be the optimum approach if it is already in situ.

If you have to rely on your own devices, then a septic tank is certainly the way to go.  Depending on how large it is - and how efficiently it's designed and implemented - you may not need it emptying for several years.  Be wary of the dodgy (and illegal) bodge-job of making holes in the bottom so that unprocessed liquids can drain away (and potentially pollute local aquifers that your neighbours may rely on for irrigation etc.)  When properly installed, the water leaving it is fairly pure and harmless.  Of course, a proper job will cost more money and cutting corners will always be tempting, especially when you'll be assured that "everyone else is doing it" - at the very least, being a foreigner you'll be first in line when something goes wrong and guilt has to be allocated.

As an indication, our house (with 3 bathrooms) shares a septic tank with a neighbour with a similar-sized house; with five permanent residents between us and numerous visitors staying up to a month at a time our septic tank hasn't needed emptying in the last 4 years.

JimJ thanks so much for your helpful advice. Our house is only in a small village and is off the beaten track so no mains sewerage is available.

Looks as if the septic tank is the way to go. We've been quoted between 3000 to 4000 lev for full installation so definately not cheap! 

Thanks again.

Be sure to get a written breakdown of exactly what is to be done and make sure you are on-site to ensure that that is what is actually happening.  It would be a good idea to get receipts for all payments as well, just in case you ever need to prove that the job was done properly, at least as far as you knew. I prefer to pay in stages and by bank transfers - against a written bill of what that payment covers.

Great advice. Thank you.

@Kazman

Hi, Kazman

I have bought a property in Bulgaria in small village so will also be looking at fitting septic tank was wondering how you got on with yours did you go for chess pit or septic tank? would appreciate if you have any advice and what company or tradesmen you used?

Thanks Lynnette

Hi. Our cess pit collapsed as it was as the side of the house. We've had to get the house underpinned as it started sinking into the pit. Turned out to be a very costly lesson!

we've now had a septic tank fitted. We used a local builder in our village and it's worked well!

We have neither - we are very happy with a compost loo in the old outhouse. So much so - I've won my husband round - that we are now installing one in the (future) bathroom in the house. We have temporarily made another room into our bedroom for the winter, so having a second compost loo indoors means we wont have to go outside in the night or in the bad weather any more 🙌

There's no mains drainage in our village and the ground around the property has lots of granite in so the thought of digging in pipes and tanks has no appeal! Also, our water goes off fairly regularly, sometimes for days, but at least we don't need to worry about not being able to flush loos 👍

I think I will have a battle convincing my very conventional husband, but I also hope to go the composting toilet route. I am sure there's an issue with the existing waste drainage, which, if it's where I think it is, is far too close to the house and will certainly be adding to a significant damp issue with one wall. Our area also has the issue of losing mains water periodically.

I will be setting up a composting toilet arrangement in the bathroom when I am there later in the week, and hopefully once I have it up and running successfully can convince hubby that using that in combination with a greywater system for the shower water is far better than getting a new cess pit or septic tank installed!

Hi, for the sake of the value of the house (unless you are a green/eco warrior) I would excavate the cesspit and fill it in immediately and install a decent septic tank - septic tanks are very "green" and very common so the local waste management company can easily clean it out when asked. Having a composting toilet sounds lovely - ever tried living in a caravan with a chemical toilet? Same thing (give or take a few noises) but not what I would call a great value-add to the value of the property...

Having used both, I can say that properly managed composting toilets, at least the type Helen and I are referring to, are nothing like chemical toilets. Far less smelly and far less unpleasant to empty! Also, far less likely to pollute groundwater than the existing set-up at my house or poorly managed septic tanks and sewage systems. I am not convinced there's a pump-out company near my village that will manage the waste appropriately. I'm fine with taking responsibility for managing my own waste on site.

You have a point about value, but value-adding is only an issue if one intends to resell. Which thankfully, I don't. I paid very little for the house, and doubt there would be any chance of getting back anywhere near what would be spent doing a conventional renovation on this property. It's mud brick crumble in a quiet village off the beaten track. So my wisest option seems to be a less conventional lower cost renovation to get a house I can happily live in while forgetting about property values.

If someone wants to install a pump-out septic tank, that's their choice. Isn't it wonderful to have options to choose from!

To each their own :-)

Right.

To poo, or not to poo: that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the loo to suffer

The smells and noises of outrageous bowels,

Or to take up compost against this hole of troubles,

And by opposing end them?

A loo, a loo

My kingdom for a loo

@berryd

Ear..Ear..i ear you say...me too..

Country life aint for me..unless its all connected..

LOL! You guys could keep going for quite some time on this topic.

I am currently at the house, using the flush for a few days (only way to test if that's causing the damp issue), and weeding my way though some monster growth that is taller than me to get to where I suspect the cesspit is located.

My guess is hubby will insist on keeping the flush, though a new septic tank will take out a hefty chunk of our current renovation budget. We will also have a simple and far less expensive composting loo as a backup.