DIY plumbing is polluting rivers, experts warn{uk}

[xchrom]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/dec/02/diy-plumbing-fouls-rivers


The river Chess in Buckinghamshire has been blighted by misconnected drainage pipes. Photograph: P C Jones/Alamy

The growing popularity of DIY, encouraged by an "explosion" in daytime TV programmes on property, is leading to raw sewage being increasingly pumped into Britain's rivers, killing wildlife.

Botched plumbing jobs mean that foul water that should be piped into the sewage system is being fed into ground and coastal waters. According to the Marine Conservation Society, the growing problem is causing the degradation of the country's smaller rivers and threatening invertebrate ecosystems and depleting fish stocks, including salmon, trout, perch and pike.

Thames Water alone believes that in its region – serving 14 million customers in London and the Thames Valley – one in every 10 homes now have misconnected drains.

The company says that since 2010 it has identified and put right misconnections at 3,170 properties, but that around 16 Olympic swimming pools' worth of foul waste is still entering watercourses every day.

[pipoman]

1. I am all about DIY

but any sewage system in my state has to be permitted and inspected, not sure how anyone could screw that up unless they are just piping sewage directly into the rivers.

A clue for DIYers, if you don't know what you are doing, sewage systems are one of those things better left to professionals...help yourself to the household plumbing once your sewage system is properly installed..

[tech3149]

3. You can't always rely on "proffesionals" either

I am currently in the midst of going from septic to sewage. It is pretty much a waste of money for me because the property and septic system is more than enough to deal with the waste generated. It is , however, a requirement passed into law and I will abide.
The problem for me is that I provided the "professional" with diagrams that were accurate to within an inch of where the wastewater and greywater lines were placed. The diagrams included depth and the placement of municipal water service line.
In spite of that documentation they not only missed the waste and grey water but ripped up the municipal water feed that was five feet away.
I have to meet with the contractor doing the work tomorrow and could probably challenge the price based on the information provided but probably will not. They are under the same sort of pressure as their customers and are trying hard to satisfy time constraints.
What frost's me is that municipal sewage shouldn't be required if you have the proper systems and property to be able to deal with the waste in an environmentally and healthy fashion.
My experience with municipal sewage in the past is that it will generally cost twice as much as the cost of the water you use in spite of the fact that waste requiring treatment is only a small percentage of the water you use.

[pipoman]

4. Yea...I always ask for insurance verification

when I use a contractor..I have a file..if I have a problem later and can't get satisfaction I can and have sent a demand letter to the insurance company..that usually gets pretty quick results.

Shortly after we moved in here the septic system failed...we knew it would when we bought. I had the option of hooking into city sewer for $4500 + monthly bills or building a sewage lagoon for $2200 and 1/4 acre with no bills..

[JayhawkSD]

2. It's not limited to do-it-yourself

In 2009 a contractor building a Navy barracks mistakenly connected the sewer from the barracks to a storm drain, sending the efflent generated by 800 sailors into San Diego Bay. Worse, the error was not discovered for more than two years.