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Thanks everyone for all the advice. I was hoping the news would be better. But I get it.
We do all have well water out here. No problems so far but we'll get that tested too. Another expense.
I'm just plain mad at the situation to be honest. What's even worse is the old septic tank has a hole in it (septic guy did a test). They put a fiberglass tank in rocky soil. My luck just can't get any worse with this. Seems like maybe the owners built the septic system.
I got a quote from the septic system guy for around $24k because he had a problem finding where the field is and said I migth not have one but it was a rainy day and he's coming back to look again. This is getting out of hand.
So I was thinking about my options here. I could offer to buy the cesspool off the owner but it's a good acre(?) with trees mostly around it so it would probably cost quite a bit. It's full of algae so I'm sure nobody would use it for anything else. It doesn't look like anyone has been on the dock for 20 years and the old raft up on land looks even worse. We never met the owners of the land and they live maybe 1/2 mile from me at the other end of their land which is probably 20 acres or so. I can't see their house because of another hill and never met them in all the time we lived there.
I sure didn't need this right now I can tell you that!
If the OP is caught, the pond/cesspool owner can sue and will win big $$$$ because you knowingly damaged the environment. There could be county/state fines as well. Totally not something to mess with! It needs to be fixed correctly immediately. There's a reason the expression don't s!!t where you eat exists! God help you if any of you have a well!
Hopefully this doesn't happen. The cesspool is covered in algae anyway. I'm going to get this taken care of ASAP. Already meeting with the bank. Good thing we paid cash for this place so I have equity. Tight on cash right now.
I could offer to buy the cesspool off the owner but it's a good acre(?) with trees mostly around it so it would probably cost quite a bit. It's full of algae so I'm sure nobody would use it for anything else. It doesn't look like anyone has been on the dock for 20 years and the old raft up on land looks even worse.
Sounds like every cesspool I've ever heard of. An acre with a dock and a raft.
I dare you to march up to their front door and say "howdy neighbor, want to sell that cesspool out back?"
Hopefully this doesn't happen. The cesspool is covered in algae anyway. I'm going to get this taken care of ASAP. Already meeting with the bank. Good thing we paid cash for this place so I have equity. Tight on cash right now.
You do realize that the POND wasn't a "CESSPOOL" until your illegal installation MADE it a cesspool?
You can NOT continue to use this as an open cesspool, even IF the present owner sells you the property.
I'm sorry this happened to you, but sometimes life just sucks.
Do the right thing. Make some more phone calls, and figure it out. Maybe they'll give you special financing or something. Maybe if you are nice enough, they'll give you a grant. Doesn't hurt to ask...
p.s. There are composting toilets, ANDincinerator toilets. Maybe you can install one of those cheaper. BUT, you still MUST remediate the now polluted pond.
Five years ago we bought a house from the bank. It's a '87 house on 4 acres in a rural unincorporated area and the owners got foreclosed. The house was in OK shape so we took a gamble on it.
A few weeks ago the toilets backed up. Thinking the rain had done something to it or we needed to get the tank pumped. The pumpout guy said the tank had nothing in it. So he gave us the name of a septic installer and repair guy, who came out, did some digging around, charged us $300, and told us that the septic wasn't connected to the house. The house was listed with a septic system and there's a tank so we had a mystery. He said he saw this before out here where people make "amateur sewers" when the septic goes out, because there's no municipal sewer and they can't afford the fix.
In the meantime, the toilets went down by themselves and everything went back to normal!!!
What we eventually found was terrible. Just terrible. The previous owners had some sort of construction company. They had laid a sewer pipe which went under the yard, down the hill, and under a little utility access right of way road, then out into the neighbor's pond. Which is I guess just a cesspool? We found toilet paper and other debris coming out of the pipe so we know that's our sewer pipe because there's not another house in sight.
When we were tracing this pipe we found that it had been broken off by a utility truck that went off the access road a few weeks ago where the pipe goes through a metal drain culvert underneath the road. That's exactly where the truck went off. It must of been the same day that the toilets backed up. Then when they cleared the truck the crushed part was broken off and opened, and now there's just a big area of fanned out toilet paper and other materials on the down slope past the road. I called up to the house and had my wife flush toilets and put toilet paper in and all of that and it all eventually comes out.
We called the utility and they sent someone out to inspect it and give an estimate for the cost of repair. He said there's no way he could repair it because it was an illegal installation and he couldn't fix it. Some code thing. I argued that it was grandfathered because we bought it that way and it's just a long pipe to a cesspool, not his determination to make. This is an unincorporated area so I don't know what the laws are about that but I was just livid! The utility refused to fix it after that.
In the end I ended up having to call my contractor/brother in law from out of state who came down last weekend with a backhoe, pipe, and a helper. They fixed the sewer so at least now they have a working sewer instead of just the waste dumping down the hill because it's getting really bad down there. It cost me $2500 for him to do it but he didn't give me trouble about codes or anything. Now we have a nice working sewer again. Who knew that would seem so satisfying?
What are our options here to recoup the repair cost and/or can we go back to the previous owner for this illegal installation? We weren't in the position for this repair, and putting the septic back in order is out of the question. How can we force the utility to pay for our sewer repair?
Sorry man but you are DREAMING if you think that anything you described is grandfathered in or remotely legal. I'm surprised that the utility guy didn't turn you in.
And now you want someone else to pay? You HAD a absolute beauty of a case ( I truthfully mean that ) against the owner and very likely probably the inspector and even the realtor and whoever else you wanna choose that had anything to do with the house and sewer inspection . But since you touched you now freaking own it illegal and all. You should if immediately called a RE lawyer and both agents. You should of sued the pants off the owner for this.
And you're on well water. Holy crap literally. I would not drink your tap water
And your BIL can also be held liable for doing a illegal repair.
Wait till you try and sell the house. You're gonna have to fix it. Good luck man.
This is the second complaint about raw sewage being dumped in Georgia that I have seen on city-data this week. I'm starting to think this is a common situation in that state. It's not clear to me whether there is an existing septic that can be rehabilitated, or if there was never a septic system on the property, but the current owner is responsible for his own sanitation. He needs to be talking to the bank about a HILOC. Most people don't have a few thousand dollars in cash, and it's going to cost.
Maybe Bubba could come back with his backhoe and bootleg a septic system in.
Edit: on re-reading, there is a septic system on the property. Just connect to it. Problem solved.
You read some crazy stuff on C-D. An open pond of raw sewage? I cannot believe that is legal or even if legal, is considered sanitary anywhere in the US.
OP, glad you came back and updated that you are working on remedying the situation. Yes, it's not fun to be in this position, but hopefully this will get taken care of and you can go on to enjoy your new home for many years to come.
A pond someone has dumped sewage in is NOT a cesspool, it's just an open pool of sewage at this point. A cesspool is very similar to a septic tank, usually having no bottom and have to be pumped out occasionally.
What you have is an illegal system, if anything you better hope your neighbor doesn't find out about it. The existence of a dock and float/raft shows at one time people may have swam in the pond.
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God help you if any of you have a well!
