Septic tank backing up into house

If your property has a septic tank, and you’ve never had any trouble with it, it can be quite a shock when things go wrong. After all, if you can’t even see what on earth is causing the problem, how do you start figuring out what to do about it?

There are many ways that your septic tank can give you a sign that all is not well, and that it might need a bit of TLC. One of the symptoms is if your septic tank starts backing up into your house, which can be the cause for understandable alarm! You might have noticed one or more of the following:

• Unpleasant smells or gurgling noises coming from ground floor toilets, sinks, showers or appliances which might be connected to the septic tank
• The level in ground floor toilets rising to the top of the basin when flushed (or possibly even overflowing), then very slowly reducing back down to a normal level
• Wastewater seeping out around the lid of any manholes near to the property

Suffice to say, if you are experiencing any of the above, you will likely be worried about what might be causing it and what you can do to sort it out.

First things first - in the instance of any problems with your septic tank, the best thing to do before anything else is to arrange for it to be emptied. When the tank is being emptied, explain to the tank operator that the septic tank has been backing up to your house. They might be able to spot problems when the tank is being emptied, such as damage to the septic tank or any soakaway pipework, or perhaps a failure of the soakaway which is causing the septic tank to back up. They may be able to tell if the soakaway has failed because water may gush back into the septic tank from the soakaway pipework once the septic tank has been emptied.

Remember though that septic tank emptying companies don’t carry investigation cameras to be able to carry out a thorough inspection of what’s happening and causing the septic tank to back up into the house. If the septic tank backs up again even after it has been emptied, a more thorough investigation of the problem might be required. At UKDP we have a team of engineers located across the UK, fully equipped to get to the bottom of any septic tank problem you might be having, contact us here to find out more about how we can help.

Did you know?

If there’s damage, it’s possible that the costs to put it right might be covered by your existing buildings insurance policy. We can manage everything from start to finish for you, as experts both in septic tanks and insurance claims (yes, we realise it’s a little niche – but, as perhaps you are discovering, we do serve a need) – from investigating the problem, to checking whether you have the right cover, preparing a report for your insurer and managing all discussions through to completing any works agreed to get you back to normal as soon as possible. Find out more about how we work here.

Whatever the problem you are experiencing with your septic tank, the UKDP team will be on your side, and will work tirelessly to get everything functioning as it should be as soon as possible. Contact us today to find out more.