Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum
Calis Beach Forum => Expat & Property Owners Q and A Forum => Topic started by: Ian on November 10, 2010, 09:47:44 AM
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Now I lay my cards on the table - I know nothing about drains so please bear with me!
We live in a block of 9 apartments - built 5 years ago and I am told has a septic tank underground (incidentally I was told not to put paper down the loo so we didn't - our guests reluctantly didn't - but then after 5 years I find out that everyone else does) - anyway I digress!
The council are now starting to dig up the roads around us and either they are laying an underground water slide or this is it - the main drains - road tax is coming et al!
So the question is: How do they connect us - do these septic tanks have a "punch out hole" that they connect a pipe to on the side of this tank wherever it is - do they connect us or do we pay to get someone to connect us - and incidentally if a septic tank is a big metal box underground and ours hasn't been emptied for 5 years - where has everything gone??
I eagerly await replies from the experts and the sarcastic :D:D
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When they did the mains drainage in our road they were responsible for the main drainage system and a 'point of entry' to the drainage. We then got all the pipework and connected each house as it worked out alot cheaper than asking the Belediye to do it.
There is paperwork that needs to be filled in and a payment made to Feski too.
Alot of septic tanks are soak aways, so yours must be if you haven't had to empty it :)
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Sunnyd - does that mean that we don't necessarily need to connect to the mains - we can just let it continue to disappear into the ground???
I would be interested to know what others did that had a communal responsibility - i.e apartment blocks?
Thank you by the way - I now - having googled it - understand the principle of a soak away - bet ours wasn't built correctly :)
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I am still connected to our soak away. All my pipework is in place just needs connecting to my house waste pipe. My neighbours have connected to the main drainage.
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Don't know if septic tanks are different in Turkey but we have had one here in the U.K. for 27 years. It has a soakaway, which all septic tanks have, this just soaks away liquid, however, the tank does fill up with solids and has to be emptied every two-three years. We have a contract to have it emptied. Dread to think what would happen if it was not emptied. I have checked with my son who is a plumber and when mains drains are fitted in the U.K. they have nothing to do with private septic tanks although existing connections are used when the tank is disabled, but the mains would not go through the tank.
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I wish I hadn't read this whilst eating my lunch :(
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Hi Stoop if you think that is bad you should hear some of the horror stories from my son.
Here is a really good tip. Never, never, never, ever use those clip over the toilet seat and into the bowl fresheners. My son tells me every time he gets called out to a blocked toilet 90% of the time one of those things has been flushed down the loo... you don't need anymore details.
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Ha Ian, your apartment sounds like it is near ours. My Dad has just been there for a couple of weeks and brought me back photo's of a great big trench outside ours. But on a positive note, they've also begun our park.
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quote:
Originally posted by Ian
if a septic tank is a big metal box underground and ours hasn't been emptied for 5 years - where has everything gone??:D:D
How often a tank has to be emptied obviously depends on how big the tank is, how much sh*t goes into it, and most importantly how efficiently the microbes are working in it. It's not unknown for tanks to be emptied just once in 20 years.
Most of the liquid will drain off and seep into the ground whilst the solids will be digested. A very good reason for not putting paper, nappies and sanitary towels down the drains is that it just fills the tank quicker. Also, you should avoid putting oil or grease and excessive amounts of detergent or bleach down the sink if it also drains into the tank
There,,,,,,,,you caught me with my sensible head on. :D ;):D
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quote:
Originally posted by KKOB
quote:
Originally posted by Ian
if a septic tank is a big metal box underground and ours hasn't been emptied for 5 years - where has everything gone??:D:D
Most of the liquid will drain off and seep into the ground whilst the solids will be digested. A very good reason for not putting paper, nappies and sanitary towels down the drains is that it just fills the tank quicker. Also, you should avoid putting oil or grease and excessive amounts of detergent or bleach down the sink if it also drains into the tank
:D ;):D
We live in the country and all our friends and neighbours have septic tanks. I don't know anyone who has not had their tank emptied
We were told when ours was put in to start it off with a big rotten piece of meat. (We didn't) also not to use detergents or bleach. However, how can you manage without washing up liquid and soap powder? We don't use as much bleach and strong cleaners but it's impossible to have a septic tank that works perfectly without being emptied. We did have a neighbour who left his for five years and it overflowed..yuk!!! [xx(]
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Our septic tank here has not been emptied at all since I have lived in this house, that's 10 years.
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If I were you Nikkie I would be brave and take a peep under the lid.
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We did when we had the garden done 2 years ago and it was fine :)
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We had our tank emptied for the first time this year after 5 years. It had started to overflow into the garden. My neighbours across the road came out here to 3 inches of effluent in their ground floor apartment. Not a pretty sight. We got a firm to empty it who quoted 75 TL to out Turkish friend and then quoted us a 100 when he found out we were all English in our block. We were told that it is best to have it done every 5 years and every 3 after that. We also had dozens of cockroaches around the apartments which disappeared soon after the tank was emptied...These were the first cockroaches we have have ever had around here. So not sure if it was coincedence.
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Anne - that is a coincidence we saw our first cockroach at the end of this season - mmmmm - more than a coincidence methinks
Many thanks for all your replies - Ian
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We had a sceptic Tank in UK and used eco friendly cleaners, (bleach and disinfectants destroys bacteria needed to break down the solid matter )
We had the tank emptied once in tweny years definately no problems, and once emptied we threw in a dead chicken to start the process the (bacteria ) again
Not had to do anything yet here in Turkey !!!!
3.....2......1... :)
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We were "Canalised" about five years ago - but our previous system is still buried somewhere? The works were not a total success; the downstairs loo & sink still connected to the tank / cess pit. The neighbour whose land the tank / pit jutted into has tried to get us to pay for its removal.=> We had our loo converted into a cupboard & had the sink etc. taken away.
It only encroached about a foot onto waste ground so over to him. Never had it emptied yet. Just sealed.
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Oh dear that does sound like a thoroughly professional job by Thames Water or the Turkish equivalent :-\