Septic tank at Villa Renata

9th December 2007
Eureka! All is now revealed. We have found both tanks for the septic tank. This photo is taken from the steps. The bottom hole is the 1st chamber and the top hole is the second chamber. Very briefly, everything goes into the first chamber, solids gradually sink and decompose. As the tank fills liquid and some solid will overspill into the second chamber. There the process is the same. Solids sink and decompose and liquid will then overspill into a third chamber - the soakaway - through the pipe you can see at the top of the top opening.
So far so good. Both chambers are about 1/2 full of fairly dry solids. Now would be a good time to empty and clean them while they are both open, although this is not absolutely essential.


But ..... the pipe that takes all the waste from the villa to the 1st chamber is absolutely solid with roots (just like the ones inside the villa last year).
Have a look at these photos:



So, what to do?
Install a new pipe from the outer wall of the villa to the 1st chamber. This pipe will run under the new steps and will be accessible from the villa end of the pipe and through the inspection cover over the 1st chamber. (Click on the photos to enlarge and read the text).