It is an offence under the Public Health Act 1936 to permit a cesspool to leak or overflow. The owner or occupier of premises with such a system should, therefore, ensure that the tank is watertight and emptied regularly by a licensed contractor who will dispose of the contents at a sewage treatment works.
This Act also applies to septic tanks that are not properly maintained and produce an effluent that is prejudicial to health or a nuisance.
Descriptions of private drainage systems are available in the Environment Agency's Pollution Prevention Guidelines PPG4 - Disposal of Sewage Where No Mains Drainage Is Available. To open the document in Acrobat portable document format (pdf), 191Kb, please click on the following link PPG4.
To complain about pollution from a private drainage system contact Environmental Health
Tandridge Commercial Services operates a cesspool emptying service. A standard domestic emptying is where a cesspool can be accessed easily and no more than twelve pipes are used. Where extra pipes are required an additional charge of £3 per three metre pipe length has to be levied on each emptying.
See below for details of charges. Contact details are at the bottom of this page.
Cesspool/septic waste collection charges
From 17th November 2008
| Routine Service 01883 732775 | |
| 1000 gals or part min charge | £76 |
| 2000 gals or part of | £123 |
| 3000 gals or part of | £175 |
| Thereafter charged @ £58 per 1000 gals or part thereof. No deduction or credit made for part units. | |
| For pipe lays requiring over 12 pipes a charge of £3 per pipe will apply. | |
| Emergency service - normal working hours (subject to availability) within two working days | |
| 1000 gals or part min charge | £116 |
| 2000 gals or part | £187 |
| 3000 gals or part | £276 |
| Out of hours emergency service (subject to availability) via Tandridge help line on 01883 722000 | |
| Saturdays = per 1000 gals or part of | £154 |
| Sundays = per 1000 gals or part of | £187 |
| Bank Holidays = per 1000 gals or part of | £220 |
| Obstructed access ...... abort charge | £42 |
Please note: For service requiring two operatives an extra man charge of £28 will be levied. Fixed time appointments to meet your engineer are available as the 1st call AM only. An additional charge will apply. Charges are levied in units of 1000 gals or part thereof. No deduction or credit can be made for part units. | |
For more information call 01883 732733 or 01883 732731.
