Sewer pump station

Hi everyone,

Has anyone lived next to, or stayed next too a local sewer pump station ?

I am considering a block that has sewer pump next to it, the station has never run when I was there, is quite a large block, so can put a house a good 15-20m away and double glaze, and it is around 2m below the block level.

I imagine it has an under gound collection tank, so would only pump at certain times, maybe the council would hold info on expected operation, I have not asked that yet.

Anyway, anyone have any feedback on noise, is/was it a problem ?

 

What are you asking @dabbler? Is the block a commercial sullage pit - depending upon the area it can be quite busy during operating hours for delivery & pick up as trucks collect commercial waste and pump it out a bit of noise but a hell of a stench. Council would hold the DA hours for the operation of the works.

 

Ppor or IP ?
You can negotiate a lower price because of it but likely won't affect the rental. Tenants aren't that smart!

Noise and inconvenience depends on a number of things, it's size, condition, use, odour (did it have a bent stack?) Authority that manages it
Do a dial before you dig search to check what's going on also indicate the size, plus the authorities website for any info regarding odour and maintenance

 

Definitely wouldn't want to live there but as an investment it could work.
Scheduled maintenance on the pumps and overall condition checks of the station can happen monthly, when pumps choke in the middle of the night maintenance crews Will be called out to do the necessary repairs and it can get noisy, if it's a submersible pump in a wet well more often than not a crane will be needed to do the lifting and depending on what repairs are required it can take anywhere from 10 mins to 10 hours to fix.
If it's a dry well the pumps will be in inside or underneath the hatch in a room under the ground, dry well stations will have 2 or 3 pumps and should have all the lifting equipment inside to do the repairs generally the dry well stations are a confined space and it will also get noisy from talking etc in the middle of the night.
Most stations do have vent stacks to get the smell up higher but realistically if the wind direction is wrong it's just wrong.
I know of this one Guy always complaining about a squealing noise from the motors running and another person complains about vibrations, honestly people living near sewage pumping stations generally don't like people making noise in the middle of the night working on a smelly thing they don't won't there to begin with.
But if your worried I wouldn't be, look at Grennhills in Cronulla property worth 2 million plus all right next door to a ocean outfall sewage treatment plant. Grennhills runs on a vacuum sewer system and that's a completely different animal, I know if I was buying a property as a ppor I'd try to avoid vacuum sewer systems they can be a nightmare.

 

They are also designed to spill out sewerage in the event the pump fails. Mmmmm yum yum.

 

@Darren - you seem to know your $#!+

 

I was thinking the same. Someone else that gets excited about ****

Sydney water employee or maintenance contractor? @Darren

 

May be passed (sic) experience or just talking out of his arts

 

I think they call it waste water now, that is not as bad as sewer is it ?

it is not a small resi block, is 3000m & am trying my luck to see if I can get it for a third off, it would be for home.

The house would be above the level where the pump is, it cannot be too large, but will check with council, could build a wall or an even higher dirt mound there, I do not recall seeing any stack, but obviously it must vent somehow, it is brand new system.

Could build garage to block it too.

There is also a very wide open space running next to the block for natural drainage, part of the reason I like it as basically would be no house near you for over 100m & has good views.

mmm....

 

Yeah Sydneywater to many years, I'm one of those noisy blokes at night

 

Maybe it would be better put another way, how far away from one of these would be best ?

I think I lived near one many years ago, was about 4 doors away or maybe 50-60m, would not know it was there, but that was with dwellings in between.

 

I deal with quite a few of these enquires and my suggestion would be to call the service provider in the area and see if they have any complains about the pumping station. Some pumping stations have no issues and others are quite a pain. Its a bit hit and miss if your lucky your next to a pumping station that has no issues

 

Wont be any complaints at the moment, there is only one near completed house and no one near it for3-500m approx.

I will ask if has had a reading for noise while running maybe, do they do these kind of tests when planning and finished ?

I hung around for a while hoping it may turn on, but with only a handfull of places hooked up to sewer, it probably hardly runs at this time.

 

I have managed hundreds of small pumping stations over the years without any major issues.

With most wet well pumping station, with the covers closed, you wouldn't hear any noise when the pump is running.

Modern pump stations have 2 pumps, one duty and one standby, so maintenance can usually wait until the next day, rather than in the night.

Spills are normally set up to go underground to a drain rather than spill from the covers.

 

Spills would not be any issue......it is at least 2m below the blocks lowest point and in a major drainage reserve of 50m

Odour may be a worry...but it has no high stack that i have seen on older larger stations.