Septic services in Falmouth & Penryn & surrounding rural parishes
Around Falmouth and Penryn the wooded creeks and the villages towards the Helford — Mawnan, Constantine and the Roseland shore — are off-mains, with homes on septic tanks and treatment plants close to sensitive watercourses.
What we can arrange around Falmouth & Penryn
Kernow Septic is a local guide and enquiry service — we put you in touch with firms covering Falmouth & Penryn and handle the checking that comes first. How it works.
Emptying & servicing Most requested
Scheduled emptying and servicing for tanks and treatment plants near Falmouth & Penryn.
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 Falmouth & Penryn
Since 1 January 2020 a septic tank must not discharge directly to a watercourse — around Falmouth & Penryn that means the Penryn River, the creeks of the Helford and 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 3 bathing waters on this stretch of coast — Gyllyngvase, Swanpool and Maenporth . 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 .
Devonian slate country with heavy, clay-rich soils in the wooded creek valleys towards the Helford. Many older properties here discharge close to tidal creeks — exactly the situation the 2020 rules were written for, and worth checking before a sale rather than during one. 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 Falmouth & Penryn.
Run the free compliance check