Non-conformance with the 2020 General Binding Rules can come in a multitude of different forms, even within each of the rules there are multiple ways in which compliance can either be achieved or refused. Having a septic tank compliance check carried out by R A Dalton is one way in which you can identify if any works are required to the wastewater system at your property.

Our contracts manager Ian Murray attended a site on the Yorkshire coast to advise if the existing septic tank was compliant with the 202o General Binding rules and also to provide a quotation for a new package sewage treatment plant to serve a newbuild holiday let.

The existing septic tank was an aged Victorian brick built chamber and likely first utilised as a holding tank rather than a septic tank, at some point in time the tank had been adapted with weirs cut into the tank wall which was subsequently allowing the untreated effluent to discharge to ground directly around the tank.

Based on the findings on site along with evidence that the septic tank had previously backed up into the inlet chamber along with high levels being witnessed in the tank itself indicating that the unit was not functioning as designed.

With the initial findings being conclusive that the existing septic tank was not compliant with the 2020 General Binding Rules, we then proposed two options for the required upgrade of the wastewater system on site.

The choice was given for either the installation of a Klargester BTA2 IPS package sewage treatment plant as a replacement for the existing wastewater set up or alternatively the Klargester BTA3 IPS could be utilised to serve both the existing and also the additional holiday let.

As the intention was always to have a unit installed for the holiday let it made sense to have a combined unit installed to suit the application as a whole.

In order to utilise the improved ground porosity at the higher-level subsoils we required the installation of an IPS package sewage treatment plant to lift the treated effluent to the desired height. To clarify the exact size of the drainage field required percolation tests needed to be carried out to ensure the design and calculations were done to the required BS 6297 : 2007 standards.

Once the new installation was completed the old septic tank was then emptied, decommissioned, and infilled with a suitable granular material to avoid any potential future settlement in the area.

Due to the time of year the installation took place it was imperative that the precautions were taken to limit any disturbance to the working area, our site site team utilised ground protection boards when tracking the machinery, however the period of wet weather left the ground muddier than we had hoped.

We also advised the customer that prior to our start on site the crazy paving should be uplifted and re-laid upon completed by others, it is hard if not nigh on impossible to fully protect paving when machinery is tracking backwards and forwards and whilst measures to limit the damage can be done it would not be possible to completely negate the issue.

All of our works are carried out to a machine finish only with all additional reinstatement works being carried out by others if the customer preferred. All works on site are to leave the end finish of the job to a workable level where reinstatement can easily be undertaken… We always advise that the installation of your sewage treatment plan is best left to the professionals and why would it be any different for you landscape works?