Septic services in Truro & surrounding rural parishes
Beyond Truro's centre, the surrounding parishes and the wooded creeks of the Fal and Truro rivers are heavily off-mains, with many farmhouses and rural properties on private septic tanks and treatment plants.
What we can arrange around Truro
Kernow Septic is a local guide and enquiry service — we put you in touch with firms covering Truro and handle the checking that comes first. How it works.
Emptying & servicing Most requested
Scheduled emptying and servicing for tanks and treatment plants near Truro.
Repairs
Backups, blockages and failed soakaways put right.
Treatment plant upgrades
Upgrades where a septic tank no longer meets the rules.
Nearby areas
The local picture around Truro
Since 1 January 2020 a septic tank must not discharge directly to a watercourse — around Truro that means the Truro River, the Tresillian River and the creeks of the Fal estuary. A tank that still does needs upgrading to a treatment plant or a drainage field, and it usually surfaces at the point of sale. How the discharge rules work →
The Environment Agency designates 2 bathing waters on this stretch of coast — Pendower and Porthcurnick . Private drainage in these catchments is monitored accordingly, and siting near protected waters affects what you can install. Look any beach up on the EA's bathing water profiles .
Most of the Truro district sits on Devonian slate — 'killas' in Cornish mining terms — with clay-rich soils in the valley bottoms. Percolation can differ sharply between neighbouring plots, so a percolation test is essential before assuming a soakaway or drainage field will work. What a percolation test involves → · BGS geology viewer
Not sure if your system is compliant?
Since 2020 the Environment Agency's General Binding Rules ban septic tanks discharging straight to a watercourse. Run your setup through our free checker to see where you stand near Truro.
Run the free compliance check