Cesspit Emptying in Challock and the Downland Around It

At KP Cesspool Services, we carry out regular cesspit emptying in Challock for homes that are not connected to the mains sewer. Challock sits high on the North Downs above Ashford, and the village and the farms and cottages scattered through the woods around it are a long way from any sewer. A cesspit here needs emptying every four to eight weeks, depending on the size of the tank and the household, and the thing that most often decides how easy that is to arrange is not the tank at all. It is the drive.

Up on the Downs, down a long drive

Challock is one of the higher villages in this part of Kent, close to some of the highest ground on the North Downs, and a great deal of it is woodland. King's Wood alone runs to well over 500 hectares. Properties are spread out along lanes through the trees and often set well back from the road, with a gravel drive or a farm track between the gate and the house.

That shapes the job. A tanker needs firm ground and somewhere to stop, and on a narrow wooded lane that is not always outside the front door. We run long hoses as a matter of course, so a tank at the back of a long garden or behind a house at the end of a track can usually be emptied from the road. If your access is tight, a soft verge, a low branch, a narrow gateway, tell us when you book and we will plan for it rather than discovering it on the day.

Why a cesspit on chalk at all

Chalk drains far better than the Weald clay a few miles south, so a septic tank and drainage field tend to do well up here. That raises a fair question. Why are there still so many cesspits on the Downs?

Mostly because of history. Plenty of the cottages and farmhouses around Challock had their drainage put in long before anyone thought about drainage fields, and a sealed tank was the simple answer. Some sit on plots too small to fit a drainage field the right distance from the house and the boundary.

The chalk itself is the other reason. It holds the groundwater that much of east Kent drinks, and the Environment Agency draws protection zones around the boreholes that take it. A new discharge to ground close to a drinking water source needs an environmental permit rather than relying on the General Binding Rules, and a drainage field also has to stay at least 50 metres from any well or spring a property draws water from. Where those limits bite, a sealed cesspit avoids the question, because it discharges nothing.

What emptying involves

We bring the tanker as close as the ground allows, run the hose to the tank, lift the cover and empty it completely. While it is empty we look at the cover, the seals and the inlet, and at the ground around the tank, because a crack is far cheaper found on a routine visit than after it has started to leak into chalk that carries water so readily. If a drain between the house and the tank is slow, we can clear it with high pressure jetting on the same visit.

Everything we take goes to a licensed treatment facility, and you get a waste transfer note for your records. What happens during a cesspool emptying walks through a visit step by step, and our cesspit emptying service page covers how often a tank needs doing and what it costs.

Keeping to a schedule

On a property at the end of a woodland lane, the last thing you want is a full tank on a winter evening. A regular slot is usually easier than ringing when the tank is nearly full. Once we know how quickly yours fills, we book the next empty before it is due. If you have no idea how quickly that is, signs your cesspool is full explains what to watch for, and an alarm on the tank takes the guesswork out of it.

When a cesspit has had its day

Old brick and concrete cesspits do eventually crack, and on chalk a leaking tank is a real pollution risk. If yours is failing, the good news on the Downs is that the ground often gives you options a clay site would not, including a septic tank with a drainage field where the plot and the protection zones allow. We can look at the site and tell you honestly what it will take. Our new tank installations page covers the choices, and our cesspit and septic tank services in Challock cover everything from the regular empty to the replacement.

Arranging an empty in Challock

Being close to our base near Ashford means we can usually get to Challock quickly, including out of hours. KP Cesspool Services has over twenty years' experience with cesspits across Kent, and you can read our reviews on Checkatrade. Call 01233 720725, email kpcesspoolservices@hotmail.com, or contact us and tell us about the access when you do.