Kent

Septic tank and treatment plant services in Headcorn

Headcorn village has mains drainage, but the properties spread along the lanes north and south of it mostly do not. Farms, smallholdings, the aerodrome side of the village and a lot of individual houses out towards Ulcombe and Frittenden all run their own systems.

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KP Cesspool Services orange vacuum tanker parked on a Kent country lane with its suction hose run out

The Beult runs through the parish and its floodplain is flat and low. That matters for drainage, because a field sitting in ground that floods has nowhere to send anything for weeks at a time.

Working in Headcorn

Low lying ground along the Beult, where winter flooding puts drainage fields out of action entirely.
Treatment plants are common here for that reason, and a plant is machinery that needs servicing rather than just emptying.
Equestrian and smallholding properties often need more capacity than a standard domestic system.

The Beult, the floodplain and what can discharge

The River Beult runs past Headcorn on its way to the Medway, and it is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, one of the few clay rivers in England that still keeps much of its natural plant life. Smaller streams feed it from the farmland around the village, and the School Stream, which drains the clay to the north, has flooded parts of Headcorn after heavy rain.

That shapes what a property here can do with its waste water. A drainage field in the floodplain can be out of action for weeks after the river comes up. And under the General Binding Rules, a new discharge to a stream or ditch cannot rely on the rules within 500 metres of a Site of Special Scientific Interest, so a replacement treatment plant draining towards the Beult may need an environmental permit. We look at where a property sits relative to the river before recommending anything.

The same river runs past Smarden upstream, and cesspit emptying in Smarden covers how the clay and the Beult shape things there. For plants already in place, a service before winter with the outfall checked is the best way to avoid a breakdown in the flood season, and our treatment plant servicing and repairs cover it.