Looking for soakaway in East London? SepticTankCleaning.co.za puts homeowners, smallholders, farms, lodges and businesses in East London in touch with a drainage contractor who works in East London and nearby areas of Eastern Cape. Fill in the job card and you receive a quote directly, free and with no obligation.
Soakaways in East London
Soakaway work in East London is mostly booked by owners of plots, farms and older houses where a septic tank is the only option. Share the number of people, the tank size and whether the ground is sandy, clay or rocky, so contractors serving East London and the rest of Eastern Cape can quote accurately.
Want to know more first? Our soakaway guide covers the options, what to check and what affects the price.
Septic tanks and drainage in East London
East London has a sewered core, but outlying areas such as Gonubie, parts of Beacon Bay, and the rural Buffalo City edges toward Kidds Beach and Cove Rock use septic and conservancy tanks. The Eastern Cape coast is humid with year-round rain, and heavy summer downpours saturate the clay soils inland and the sandy coastal belt alike. A high water table near the Nahoon and Buffalo rivers often rules out standard soakaways. Mdantsane and Qonce have their own sewer networks and pressures. Honey sucker operators serve the metro from East London itself, and tank suppliers keep stock for plastic and concrete tanks. Holiday lodges peak in December.
Typical soakaway requests in the area come from:
- Houses: a new or rebuilt soakaway for an older house whose pit has clogged or flooded
- Lodges, guesthouses and venues: larger or multiple pits that cope with peak guest numbers and seasonal overloading
- Smallholdings and plots: a larger pit or two linked pits on a smallholding with space but heavy clay soil
- Restaurants, shops and offices: pits for rural shops, filling stations and restaurants that are not on a sewer
- Factories, mines, sites and events: pits for site offices, depots and ablutions, sized for the number of workers
- Farms and game farms: building pits at homesteads and worker housing, kept well clear of boreholes and dams
- Schools, churches and clinics: large pits for schools, clinics and churches, designed for heavy daytime use
Local tips for East London
In East London, the most common systems are conservancy tanks near rivers, septic tanks with raised soakaways on the coast. Operators and suppliers mostly work from operators based in East London and the surrounding industrial areas. A useful tip: ask for an extra pump-out before December if you run a holiday let.
Soakaways usually means dig a pit, fill it with stone or fit chambers, for 2 to 3 m across, 1.5 to 2.5 m deep, check yearly, lasts 15 to 25 years. Ground in the area: humid coast with year-round rain and a high water table near rivers.
What to include in your request
- Number of people using the system and the tank size in litres
- Whether this is a new soakaway or a repair of an old one
- Soil type and whether a percolation test has been done
- Distance to buildings, boreholes, streams and boundaries
- Stone pit, rubble pit or chamber, if you have a preference
The more detail you give, the more accurate your quote will be.
Service area: East London and surrounds
Operators, contractors and suppliers on our network work in East London and surrounding areas, including Mdantsane, Bhisho, Qonce, Beacon Bay, Gonubie, Vincent, Nahoon. Give the suburb, holding or farm name so the quote can include travel, and say how soon you need someone.