15/07/2026
So this isn’t a normal “wow, look at the job we did” post. Sometimes things go wrong, and on this job… it went horribly wrong!! 😱
We were given the task of replacing an old septic tank situated under a concrete pad at the side of a lovely property that had been infested with bamboo.
The problem with the job was the access. It was terrible. We couldn’t get around or to the other side of the tank and, because the tank had been battered by the bamboo, it needed to be completely removed and replaced with a brand-new treatment system.
We thought, “Great! We love a challenge!” 😎👊
So we went out, got all the measurements, had a brand-new tank custom-built to suit where we thought it was going to fit, and got the job booked in.
The start date came around and we got to work breaking out the old tank… and wow, did we underestimate the damage the bamboo had done.
The bamboo had literally grown through the walls of the concrete block tank, causing it to leak into the surrounding ground. This meant we had to remove all of the contaminated clay until we reached solid ground. The problem was that this was right next to the property, and we didn’t want to excavate too much in case we undermined the foundations.
So we had to think on our feet.
Sadly, we realised we couldn’t install the new tank where we’d originally planned because there was a serious risk of undermining the footings.
We worked with what we had, got the old tank out, removed enough contaminated clay to reach solid ground, and finally got the new tank into position and piped up. Apart from it not being perfectly square to the house, everything was level, connected and working mint.
Because the excavation was much larger than we’d originally expected, I thought, “No problem. We’ll just spend a bit more money on concrete and fill the whole excavation. Happy days. Solid concrete and no risk of the house moving…”
Oh my days… how wrong I was!! 😱😭
The extra weight of the wet concrete completely collapsed our brand-new tank and totally ruined the day.
Which meant we had to think fast.
We had no choice but to rip our brand-new tank back out… by its bloody nostrils! 🤣
Using a 5-tonne digger with a toothed bucket, we dragged the poor thing back out of the ground along with all the beautiful pipework we’d installed and dug out the expensive concrete before it had a chance to set.
😭😭 The race was on! 😅
These tanks are custom-built to suit every installation, so it wasn’t something we could just go and grab off the shelf. 🤯
Leaving a massive hole open with no foul drainage connected to the house wasn’t exactly ideal either… but we had no other choice.
So we used some of the concrete we’d dug back out to stabilise the sides of the excavation and hoped and prayed the replacement tank could be built quickly enough.
We left site, and I honestly don’t think I slept properly for days worrying about what we were going to do.
Thankfully, the very next week our tank builders pulled out all the stops, pushed us to the front of the queue and built us another brand-new system. Absolute legends. 😎👊
We rearranged all of the following week’s work and got straight back on it.
First, we had to remove all the rock-hard concrete we’d deliberately left in the hole to support the excavation, prepare everything again, install the replacement tank in exactly the same footprint, reconnect all the pipework and then concrete it back in.
This time, though, we didn’t pour wet concrete.
Instead, we used a much drier concrete mix, placing it in layers and wetting it down with a garden hose as we went. It took much longer, but it eliminated the risk of another catastrophic failure, another crushed tank and even more wasted concrete.
Hurray! This time it worked mint!! 💪
We got the new tank installed, levelled, fully concreted in and completed the job.
The job we thought would take three days ended up taking six.
Where a lot of people would’ve run a mile and never been seen again, we dug deep, owned the mistake and saw the job through to the end.
But f@ck me… it’s been the most stressful job Telford Drainage Solutions has ever done and one hell of a learning curve!
One thing’s for sure… I’ll never underestimate a job like this again.
F@ck-ups happen to every single one of us. It’s how you deal with them that matters.
We made sure this job was completed to the highest standard. Even though the tank isn’t perfectly square to the house, it’s an absolutely banging installation that’ll outlast most systems on the market and has been fitted to the highest standard.
Running a business isn’t for the faint-hearted. It isn’t all sunshine, farmers’ fields and fat pay cheques.
It’s dedication.
It’s determination.
You’ve got to want it every single day.
The moment you think you know everything or take your foot off the pedal, something comes along, bites you on the arse and completely ruins your day.
Take a look at what went wrong… 😬
Because nobody gets it right every single time.
What matters is taking responsibility, putting it right, learning from it and never leaving a customer in the s**t. That’s exactly what we did. 💯😎👊
