Rural wastewater and septic

Advanced Enviro-Septic

We are certified in Advanced Enviro-Septic, which is a passive treatment system. No pumps, no blowers, nothing mechanical to fail. On a rural property where a callout is not a five minute drive, that matters more than it sounds.

Powered or non-powered

Powered systems treat to a higher standard and suit tighter sites or where the consent demands it. Non-powered systems have less to go wrong and cost less to run. The site, the soil and the consent conditions usually decide it rather than preference.

Running cost is worth thinking about at the start. A powered system has a blower or a pump on most of the day, every day, and that is a power bill and a service interval for as long as you own the place.

What we do

New septic installations, drainage fields, soakage trenches, repairs and maintenance on existing systems, and diagnosis when something is not draining the way it should. We work on both powered and non-powered systems.

The field is usually the part that fails

People think of the tank as the system. The tank rarely fails. The field is what gets tired, because it is the part doing the treatment and it is the part affected by what goes down the drain and what drives over the top of it.

Nothing heavy on the field. No plantings with serious roots on it. And it needs to stay where the plan says it is, which is worth knowing before anyone puts in a shed.

Looking after it

Have the tank checked and pumped on a sensible interval rather than when there is a problem. Go easy on bleach and drain cleaner, because the system works on bacteria and those kill it. Keep wipes out of it entirely. And spread the washing through the week rather than five loads on a Saturday, because a field can handle a lot of water over time and not much all at once.

When a system is struggling

Slow drains, wet patches over the field, or smell are usually the first signs. Sometimes it is the tank, often it is the field, and occasionally it is simply that the system was sized for a smaller household than the one using it now. Worth looking at before it becomes a failure.

Buying a rural property

If you are buying somewhere on septic, find out the age of the system, whether there is a consent and what its conditions are, and when the tank was last emptied. A pre-purchase look at the system is a great deal cheaper than inheriting a failed field.

Consents

On-site wastewater is consented work and the conditions vary by site. We will talk you through what applies to your property before anything is ordered, and we will be straight with you if the site makes it complicated.