Drainage and septic tanks
An old clinker soakaway is mentioned as collapsed. Did the survey dig it out, or only repeat what the seller said?
The survey did not dig the soakaway out. An old clinker soakaway is mentioned as collapsed, which is a mention, not an excavation. Clinker soakaways are old filled pits that took outflow onward from a tank. Digging one up is not part of a home survey, so the collapse has not been seen below ground. Unless the text says debris was visible at the surface, the words are an account, commonly the seller's. A soakaway is not the tank. The survey has not proved the pit.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
A septic tank, a treatment plant and a cesspool are different things, and a soakaway is different again: it is the place outflow was supposed to disperse, not the chamber that holds sewage. A cesspool only stores sewage until it is emptied. Calling a collapsed clinker pit a tank muddles those roles. The survey can repeat what it was told and can note any wet ground it actually saw. It cannot confirm a buried collapse without opening the ground, and this visit did not open it.
Ask the solicitor what the seller says, and ask for any emptying or drainage records, which are not this report. A drainage firm can look if you need the pit found. Do not tell a lender the soakaway was excavated and found collapsed. The survey's sentence is only as strong as its source. If the seller's account is all there is, say so. The difference between a tank and a dispersal pit still has to be kept straight when you instruct anyone later.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did the visit excavate the clinker soakaway?
- Is a mention of collapse the same as seeing the pit?
- Is a soakaway the same thing as a cesspool?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the collapse as unexcavated.
- Ask the solicitor for the seller's account and any drainage papers.
- Do not tell a lender the pit was dug out.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Could wet ground nearby prove the soakaway has collapsed?
Not on its own. Wet ground can have several causes, and the survey has not dug the pit. A mention of collapse plus a damp patch is still not an excavation. Ask a drainage firm if the pit must be found. Do not upgrade a soft lawn into a proved failure of a clinker soakaway the visit never opened.
Who empties a cesspool, if the system is actually one of those?
A contractor empties a cesspool because it only holds sewage. That is not what a soakaway does, and it is not what this survey did. The report has not established which unit is on the plot. Ask the solicitor for the paperwork before anyone orders a tanker. The collapsed-pit sentence has not identified a cesspool.