Saturday 14 September 2013

Laying down the sewerage

I rejoice at the sound of the excavators, the inconvenience of the mud-caked drive, the diversions to get the car out onto the main road - they mean that after 11 years and nine months, we shall be free of the tyranny of a septic tank that needs to be emptied fortnightly(at 230 zł a go). Like 99% of Dutch households and 96% of German households, we'll very soon be connected to the town drains

Below: it's all action on our road. The workmen are putting in long days and work weekends too. It may all be over by the end of October or even sooner. Our drive is out of action, so everyone has to leave their cars in the street. And it's safe - even in the middle of the night there are two guys minding the site, checking the pumps at the bottom of the new collectors.


Left: outside our house is a small manhole (vertical pipe) which runs down towards the street. The pipes have yet to be installed, so there remains much digging and a lot of mud will have to be moved. Let's hope the weather will remain generally dry over the coming weeks.

The main engineering feat once the main pipe has been laid running down our drive will be to puncture the septic tanks outside each house and to connect them to the manholes via lateral pipes. I'd guess the septic tanks would have to be filled with concrete up to the level of the lateral pipe, so they'd not collect waste water.

Below: outside on ul. Trombity, the diggers are at work. Note the one on the left is a Zeppelin. These days, Junkers make hot-water boilers, Messerschmitt make luxury yachts.

Sadly, the works meant finally disposing of my Nissan Micra (below), which has stood outside our house for almost two years, acting as a gate-guardian. It was a very good buy, the best money I've ever spent on a car. The Micra, which I bought in May 1993, has 116,000 miles on the clock; I'm sure the engine will go to a good home.


This time last year:
Still awaiting the official opening of viaduct on ul. Poloneza

This time two years ago:
Fixie composition in blue and red

This time three years ago:
What's the Polish for 'guidelines'?

This time four years ago:
Ul. Rosoła's cycle path - new route to work

This time five years ago:
First apple

This time six years ago:
Late summer spider-webs

6 comments:

Bob said...

Progress! Ours was done about 3 years ago. Not having to worry about having the 'szambo' pumped out is a real relief. Before overnight guests would arrive, Ewa would go check the levels with a long reed-like stick.

It has been 100% reliable now. Work was done very well and there was no disruption to speak of on the property.

Michael - we did not back-fill the old szambo. Was no need to - theoretically it is impervious to water ingress.

Michael Dembinski said...

@ Bob

The egress from the szambo to the lateral pipe is about three-quarters of the way up the szambo wall; if the szambo's left as it is, there will always be seven or eight cubic metres of waste water of the bottom of it... Is that the case with you?

Bob said...

No, we had it totally drained. In our case there was no egress pipe. When we used the szambo - we had a manhole that they would have to lift to suck out all the gunk. Manhole and szambo still in place as a reminder of the 'old days'

Neighbour said...

Michael,

Chances are, the ground under your house and around it is drained with thin, 40 to 100 millimetre in diameter drain pipes which are brick colour (rurki drenarskie). Have a look at the excavations, and if you see a trace on the trench wall, say 120-150 centimetres below the pavement level, look for another one on opposite side of the excavation. If you find it, go to the workers' foreman and tell them to install a pipe connecting it.
Please also call Ursynów wydział Ochrony Srodowiska, Mr. Robert Poniewierski at 22 545 72 64, who is responsible for maintenance of the drainage ponds on Kórnicka as well as all drainage in the Gmina.
He will help you to urge the workers to repair drainage damaged by the excavations and inspect how they repair it. They need to have continuity and clear flow.
If you don't do it, your plot and surrounding grounds may not be drained properly and soon your garden may be flooded with rain water.

This is exactly what happened to me on Buszycka. Flooded basement and garden, because some idiot cut the ceramic pipe when excavating.

This is crucial in this area. You can go to Urząd Gminy at KEN and talk to Mr. Poniewierski or Ms. Bluj directly.

You can call me to get more details if you want to.

Best regards,

Bob said...

Great advice - many thanks!

Bob

Anonymous said...

Bardzo ciekawie to zosatło opisane.