Septic tanks and BIO plants in Torņakalns - historic detached houses in Pārdaugava

Torņakalns: wooden houses, detached houses and new blocks

Torņakalns is a historic neighbourhood in Pārdaugava (Riga's left bank) with wooden and brick buildings, detached houses, university complexes and new developments. Access is shaped by Vienības gatve, Jelgavas iela, the railway and the route towards the Stone Bridge (Akmens tilts), while the Mārupīte stream and construction on large development sites can change the usual way to the house.

For buildings connected to the city network, our work is different: manholes, pumps and rainwater. A septic tank, holding tank or BIO plant matters for detached houses that have no connection, and for properties whose new owner is only just finding out what is buried in the yard.

Buying or inheriting a house with a septic tank

When you become the owner of a house, the Cabinet regulations give you six months after the ownership is entered in the Land Register to register the decentralised system. If it is already in the register, changes to the register data are reported within a month. In Riga, the register is kept by the municipal Riga Housing and Environment Department.

Before the transaction, or right after it, it is worth finding out:

• what system is buried: a septic tank with an outflow, a holding tank or a BIO plant (you can usually tell from the number of lids and pipes);
• when it was last pumped out; the previous owner must keep the certificates for at least two years;
• whether there is a mains sewer in the street and whether a connection pipe has already been built up to the boundary;
• where the septic tank water goes and whether the drain field still works.

During the first pumping, we see the condition of the tank and tell you what we noticed: septic tank pumping in Torņakalns, from €75.

A small plot: where to put a new system

In historic areas, plots tend to be small, and little space is left between the house, the neighbour's boundary and the wells. A drain field needs an area that must not be built on or paved, so in a small yard a BIO plant with an outlet to a ditch or a filtration well, or a sealed holding tank, is more often the better fit.

An old concrete-ring septic tank can sometimes be converted into a BIO plant or replaced with a new tank in the same spot, so that no other area has to be dug up. More: replacing an old septic tank and converting a septic tank into a BIO plant. A BIO plant for 4–6 people costs from €1,750, a septic tank with the tank and installation from €2,200.

In a narrow yard, it also matters how the tank will be brought in. If an excavator cannot get through between the house and the fence, the job is planned with smaller machinery or done by hand, and that affects the price.

An old septic tank smells or fills up fast

The most common complaints about an old septic tank are a smell and filling up fast. The smell usually comes from a blocked vent, dried-out traps in the house or a lid that does not seal. Filling up fast means that the drain field no longer takes the water, groundwater is getting into the tank, or rainwater has been routed into it.

In both cases we start with pumping and an inspection, because only in an empty tank can you see what is going on. What you can check yourself: septic tank smells and septic tank fills up fast.

Connecting to the city network as an alternative

If there is a sewer main in the street, connecting is usually the simplest long-term solution: no more pumping, declarations or maintenance. In Riga, you can receive one-off support of €1,000, €1,500 or €2,000 for connecting a residential house, if the connection was built after 8 July 2023 and the application is submitted within three years. The amount depends on the length of the connection pipe.

Building the connection pipe costs from €25/m. Steps and documents: connecting to the mains sewer.

Construction sites and access in Torņakalns

On development sites and near the railway, streets are sometimes closed or have detours, so in your request say which side is easier to approach from. For construction sites, we pump out portable toilets: portable toilet pumping. If water has collected in an excavation or a basement: basement pumping.

After construction, it is worth checking the sewer manholes in the yard of a new building: construction debris and sand often get into them and clog the pipe in the very first year. We pump out and clean these manholes the same way as drainage wells.

Septic tank maintenance and Riga's rules

Riga's rules require two things for a septic tank: removing the sludge at least once a year and technical maintenance at the time set by the manufacturer or installer. A BIO plant that discharges water into the environment also needs laboratory analyses every two years. A tank may be pumped out only by a pumping contractor listed in the department's register.

For failing to meet these requirements, a private individual may receive a warning or a fine of up to 70 penalty units. But there is a more practical reason: a septic tank pumped out in time does not send sludge to the drain field, and the field lasts longer.

Neighbouring areas

The nearest neighbourhoods are Āgenskalns, Atgāzene, Lucavsala and Bišumuiža, where on some streets the network was built in phase 4 of the Cohesion Fund project. All places: where we work.