Forum menu
I feel this should be a no brainer. It smells a bit so why would I even consider it. But... its only a little one serving a very small village/hamlet and the house is stunning and obviously cheap. You couldn't smell it at all from the house and only just from the end of the garden. Hard to say if we caught it on a good or bad day though. Anyone lived with this? Its a big open pit with a rotating arm watering it. Is this state of the art or is there a chance it'll get changed to something more palatable after a while?
It's an old whirlygig (as I call them) as long as it is maintained they are pretty effective and don't smell so bad. Is it privately owned or a Water company asset?
It won't be a pit, it should be full of clinker which homes the bacteria that clean up the effluent. When it gets hot isvwhen it will smell, clinker dries out and kills off the bacteria.
Be a Shit/Crap place to live IMO.
Go and view/hang around on a day when wind is from that direction.
Any plans to increase the size of the village, and therefore how much poo ends up next door?
BBQ in the garden on a hot day should be fun.
My concern would be future development increasing the size. Whilst you may not care I think many other buyers would so it will always be a hard to sell house.
Don't do it.
I get a train that stops at a place called Berrylands. In Summer when the train stops the smell from the nearby treatment pool is overwhelming.
Wouldn't bother me, if it's where you want to live
If you've got doubts, if and when you come to sell, potential buyers will have them also...
Sounds like a biological trickling filter - these are particularly bad for smell/flies, especially during warm weather. They do function pretty well though, so would be surprised if there is plans to upgrade.
I would look to go back during some warm weather and see if you can smell it more. You do get used to the smell after a while though.
I used to work at an office/yard next to one. It was fine about 90% of the time and you wouldn't even notice it was there. When you did notice it though it was bad, very bad. They used to pump out perfume/air freshener to try and disguise the smell but it didn't really work. Never stayed in that job long, wouldn't even consider buying a house somewhere next to one.
a mile from my house is a large sewerage farm ( seafeild) it stinks. there is a block of housing just over the road from it. Youcan buy a flat in that block for half the price of a similar one a mile away.
Our survey says
If it bothers you then it'll bother a future buyer if you ever have to sell.
However, if the price is right and you aren't bothered too much then why not go for it.
There's a small plant down the canal from us (pre-treatment/collection for the village before being tankered off to the huge plant up the road), there no smell for most of the year but come high summer ...you know, when you want your windows open or sit in your lovel garden... it reeks.
Definite no from me
ok when wet/rainy/cold smelly when its warm/hot.
Price reflects this so your choice as to how much it will annoy you
It's obviously an issue and will be when you want to sell it.
Just make sure the price reflects it.
How long has it been on the market? Have a look on home.co.uk to check pricing history as well.
If it's been on a while just make a really low offer.
It is a sewage treatment plant. Sewerage is the system that gets it there. And I cycle past two every day and wouldn't want to live next to either.
Pigface sed: as long as it is maintained they are pretty effective and don't smell
Maintenance contracts change and are deprioritsed once money is short.
One of the fields next to us has just been sprayed with cow poop - it stank and MrsSB wouldn't dry anything outside as she said the clothes would smell of poop also.
If you're questioning it then I guess other house buyers will do so also when the time comes for you to sell.
If the village expands it will get replaced, is there space to do it in the existing works or will they need to go elsewhere?
It could also get replaced with a pumping station as the water companies prefer fewer, larger assets
At some point it will need an upgrade, I doubt that would be a trickling filter.
Also ask about flies, these trouble some works,
However remember you can complain about odour etc and at some point it will trigger some actions
Also ask EA regarding the number/type of complaints and the compliance of the works discharge, ask if it is permitted (unlikely but worth asking) if yes then ask for a copy
Finally remember that in small hamlets the alternative is often a septic tank at the end of the garden, you are buying a rural property so you need to view in context.
I actually live right next to a sewage treatment works but its recently been upgraded and we can't really tell it's there now TBH.
It always strikes me as mad that it's cheaper to have a septic tank with the cap right by the sewage works fence and get a lorry to collect it and drive it round the corner than it is to be on mains sewarage.
Might be handy if you want PYO tomatoes.
It always strikes me as mad that it's cheaper to have a septic tank with the cap right by the sewage works fence and get a lorry to collect it and drive it round the corner than it is to be on mains sewarage.
Average pricing for mains sewerage, plus they are subsidising you as you don't contribute to the highways drainage elements
i wouldn't, not just the smell, rats love sewage works
It is not a sewage treatment plant - they are large sites which contain multiple treatment processes.
It's either a bridge or half bridge scraper - if the arm is length of radius it's half bridge, if length of diameter it's bridge.
How does the sewage get there, how is it removed and how often?
Several things you can do:
- contact environmental health to check on incidence of complaints
- ask residents about it
- talk to local water company about it; ask them to explain what goes in, what comes out (and how often), risk/incidence of overflow during heavy rains (from gutters into drains), does it serve land drains; does it serve only residential properties
- talk to local (parish) council about it
It will be a water company asset; if it was ever private, ownership will have transferred under the adoption of private sewers legislation. Water companies which fail to adequately maintain their assets and/or cause 'nuisance' (in legal sense) get walloped by ofwat.
Go and view/hang around on a day when wind is from that direction.
Take a dog with you - so if the smell of yesterdays does drift by you got someone to blame it on.
I get a train that stops at a place called Berrylands. In Summer when the train stops the smell from the nearby treatment pool is overwhelming.
Well 25 years ago I lived next to it and the smell really wasn't pronounced...
Perhaps its expanded capacity or got older ???
Well 25 years ago I lived next to it and the smell really wasn't pronounced...
To you it wasn't - but you should have heard what everyone was saying about you behind you back.
It is not a sewage treatment plant - they are large sites which contain multiple treatment processes.
The regulator disagrees with you
I live near TJ and the smell is terrible.
I'd be fine with it unless it had a flagpole too.
We lived about 1.5 miles from one and when the wind was blowing in the wrong direction the smell was terrible, bad enough that you didn't want to be outside.
Personally I wouldn't and I have a notoriously poor sense of smell....
kormoran - MemberI live near TJ and the smell is terrible.
Oi!
I've had my annual shower you cad!
Clearly it depends. I don't live next to one, but our local one is surrounded by paths I use regularly. I can't recall ever smelling anything from it, and would certainly be happy to buy a house next to it.
Depends how big the garden is. Hamlet sewage plant is 200m from us as the crow flies, not noticed it. Pub 50m away and can smell it's fryers in the back garden. Liquid waste pumped on fields 200m away can be smelt.
As others have said, this time of year it is unlikely to smell. It will be on really hot days and when the wind is in your direction. Also flys can be an issue. You do get used to the smell but the fly's would annoy me, especially as you know when you see them in your kitchen where they have been. You see a lot of waste water treatment works with homes which used to be for the workers actually within the boundary of the works and are now private homes. People living on them seem happy enough. Guess it depends if the price is one that is getting you a home you are willing to compromise on.
Water companies get penalised for odour complaints so do try hard to minimise them and often have anti-odour plant on site for this reason. They may also cover the tank in the summer, did you notice it had a slice of it covered? If so thats a lid which will roll out to cover it all.
The one I cycle past on the way to work stinks. Not all the time and is occasionally almost pleasant. It changes depending on the processes I guess. Sometimes it smells like they are adding vanilla to it; industrial vanilla scent and crap- not pleasant. Other mornings it smells like a crap after a night on the curry and beers.
It's not actually the smell, it's the fact you can taste it!
There is a terraced row about 5 metres from it- never seen an open window and all the residents appear to chain smoke!
I think your expectations make all the difference - like if you've weighed it up, don't think it's a big deal and buy the house, you're happy. Probably more than happy as it will prove to be less of an issue than you're already prepared for.
But if someone opens a sewage plant next to a house you already own, your life is in ruins.
It is not a sewage treatment plant
It was when I was in the industry.
When I lived in South Reading 20 years ago the "Whitley Whiff" was definitely a thing during warmer periods.
Doing research is vital.
Someone mentioned earlier that you will get used to the smell. I once worked for about a week at a large Thames Water sewage treatment plant - the first few days were awful, but by the end we weren't aware of the smell at all. Likely to be the same reason that you can't smell your own aftershave after a while.
You might not notice the whiff - but your barbeque guests certainly will.
View the house again in a few months, you'll understand the issues better and you might get a better deal
There's a nice village at one end of the waterworks near us. Get the wind in the wrong direction and there's no way I'd want to live there, however about 2 years ago they upgraded to a sealed process, which has virtually eliminated the stink.