Whether you dream of owning a cottage in the countryside, are ready to move in or have one already, your thoughts should move towards considering the sewage disposal system sooner rather than later.

Of course, it’s the last thing on your mind when you look at the picture-postcard cottage standing in its large and wonderful gardens and listen to birds singing in the peaceful countryside, because generally, sometimes even when we have lived in such a property, we take things such as sewage for granted.

Some people mistakenly believe that all properties are connected to ‘main drains’, but there are plenty of places in the country where this is not so. Main drains are often uneconomical for the utility companies to install in many villages up and down the land and so septic tanks and cesspools are the only answer.

Septic tanks work on the principle of breaking down solids by anaerobic bacteria in an enclosed chamber. The final purification of the liquid is in a filter bed. The effluent is sometimes discharged into a humus chamber, which allows the unstable material from the filter to settle. The water resulting from the process then passes into a soakaway, sometimes made from a series of pipes running under the garden. Water from a septic tank should not be discharged into a ditch, stream, river or pond, so the type of soil and the layout of the land have a great impact upon what is installed.

Cesspools are used where there is no public sewer available and where the sub soil cannot soak away the liquid from a septic tank, or if there is no suitable stream or river to take the final effluent from a processing plant. Cesspools are simply a large enclosed chamber to collect the effluent, which is then removed on a regular basis and taken to a sewerage treatment works. It may be brick or block construction or manufactured in steel or reinforced glass fibre and must have minimum capacity of 18,000 litres. Cesspools are considered to be a last resort for dealing with sewerage.

Tanks must be emptied on a regular basis (contact you council’s drainage section for details) and the waste taken to a sewage disposal plant. The cost of doing this equates to the sewage part of the water rates.

No, there are many issues relating to owning a septic tank or cesspool. For a start, the damn thing always obeys one of those laws of nature usually assigned to some Irish academic dreamer or other. You know the one. It irrefutably maintains that things will always go wrong at the worst possible time. There you are, you’ve just moved into this idyllic cottage and friends or neighbours are round for drinks, the loo’s flushed, and bingo, instead of draining away freely it simply fills and overflows.

Unless you specifically checked, it’s unlikely to have been emptied before you bought the house. Also, the place may have been previously owned by a dear little old lady living on her own. Now in you come and fit out the place with washing machines and dishwashers and invite family and guests to stay. "As long as you like mum," you hear ringing in your ears. It’s no wonder the tank’s full up to overflowing, and now the water has continued to back up the pipes leading to your loo.

How often does this happen? It is a lot more common than you think. Do you think anybody confesses to having inadequate sewage disposal while they occupy a property or show prospective buyers around the house?

And if there are any leakage issues you could be in for very heavy fines. The Environment Agency recently reissued a warning to all householders who are served by cesspools (usually the most likely type of tank to cause a problem), to check them regularly for leaks.

Environment Officer Robert Cornell said: "The discharge of raw untreated sewage to the environment whether from a private sewage treatment plant or direct from a drain from the foul sewer is totally unacceptable. More so in this modern age with the large quantities of household chemicals found in wastewater from today’s households."

"The Environment Agency takes discharges of sewage very seriously and warns that in such cases enforcement action will be taken. This will hopefully serve as a warning to the owners of households served by cesspools to check that their cesspools are fully watertight, and that they do not have any discharge pipes or holes or cracks which could discharge untreated sewage to the environment."

The Environment Agency recently prosecuted a Chichester man who caused sewage to enter a West Sussex watercourse after he breached an enforcement notice to seal his cesspool. Mr Jonathan Falkner pleaded guilty to both offences at Chichester Magistrates and was fined £500 for each offence and was ordered to pay costs of £1,014.

On the plus side, the costs of dealing with an efficient septic tank that only needs emptying annually or even bi-annually compare very favourably with paying sewage charges to your local water company, although this is not true of cesspools, which need emptying at frequent intervals, maybe every couple of months.

Your surveyor should have checked for leaks and pipes discharging into places other than the official tank. Some properties may have a cesspool, but still discharge wastewater, say from a bath, to a ditch. However, do check for yourself. Turn the taps on. Ensure all the water drains away freely. Look for signs of the use of a pump to discharge water. You may even have the unpleasant task of lifting the main tank cover to check if a pump is positioned in the chamber.

If you find you do have a lifting pump chamber, then remember it will need servicing to manufacturer’s instructions every six months to a year.

If the system is old and brick-built consider having a new installation put in. Septic tanks and their soakaways can usually be fitted in gardens with free-draining soils. Beware of thinking of this line of action if the soil is clay though. Clay soils do not drain easily and the waste would consequently leak onto unknown land. Percolation tests need to be carried out to ensure that the water can be harmlessly disposed of from a septic tank or a similar installation. Should the test prove that a septic tank cannot be installed then a cesspool is your remaining option. Should the only possible siting of the tank (for either type) be uphill from the property then a pump with pumping chamber will be required.

One way or other, any problems can be sorted, but it makes good sense to investigate before you buy, not least because you could perhaps negotiate a discount on the purchase price. But whatever, don’t let a little thing like waste water dispose of you dream cottage in the country.