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Some of the properties we are managing have drains from the toilet that end just as they leave the property and then when you open the manhole cover you can see all sorts of things!!
Description:
Drain ends outside house & a space is visible via manhole then at the same level starts the drain to street.
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space
DRAIN
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Is this the allowed, legal etc….?
Thanks Ian
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It’s an inspection chamber, not a soakaway. It’s meant to be there like that to allow….inspection. Exactly the same as in the UK. The most important factors to ensure the drains function properly are size of inlet/outlet pipes and gradient of the pipes.
Bit worrying you’re not familiar with all things property if you’re in property management 😉 -
They are common in places where there is not the facility of mains sewerage – which is in most places not conquered by the Romans!
Here we call them Pozo Negro’s – or Black Holes.
It is common to have a stepped-down chamber before all the waste goes into the pozo. This helps to stop a build up of solid waste.
My pozo is in my back garden and is very big….about 5 metres deep. It is simply a big hole dug into the ground and then concreted over.
If you have a smaller one, then it is common practice to have it emptied by a big suction truck every few years.
New properties now have green tanks for waste to go into. A lot of these have biologically friendly bacteria which break the waste down and you can then use it for garden irrigation. Also, new properties tend to have a green water tank where used water from sinks and baths (not toilets) goes into and can once again be used for irrigation purposes.
It amazes me when I see the reactions on people’s faces when they are viewing places with me. Although they specify that they want to be in the country and have a property with character – not a new build – they still expect a broadband connection and a 21st century sewerage system. When I tell them that there aren’t any sewers, their faces are a proper picture!!
Same for when I tell them that it is easy to put in a window here or there or turn a window into a patio door with an afternoon with a lump hammer and a cement mixer.
I don’t know why the DIY shops in the UK do such big business as most people wouldn’t know what to do with a hammer and a cement mixer!! -
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Thanks for all the feedback, I’m very familiar with pozo negro’s.
@hillybilly wrote:
It’s an inspection chamber, not a soakaway.
That’s it, probably both drains at the same level!
@hillybilly wrote:
Bit worrying you’re not familiar with all things property if you’re in property management 😉
I don’t claim to be a building surveyor 😉 . I notice things and then query it, more often you get a quicker response from the forums than the clients solicitor or even the constructors who have told me far too many porkies already!
Ian
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It is also called Fosa Septica.
This week was famous because several workers died while they were cleaning one.
It is very dangeraous to look into one because you can die from lack of oxygen or poisoned.
Lately is very common to build properties in the middle of nowhere so these types of house are out of the public infraestructures so it has these holes.
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Sorry but an inspection chamber on a domestic drain run that is connected to the mains sewerage system in the street (as the OP describes) is not a fosa septica, it’s not a pozo negro and it’s not a soakaway. It’s just….an inspection chamber! Normally positioned where there is a change in direction of the drains.
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