Cesspit emptying in Kent

Why cesspits matter in Kent

Kent has many older rural homes on cesspits, sealed tanks that hold everything until a tanker takes it away. Unlike a septic tank, a cesspit has no outlet, so it fills completely and needs emptying far more often, sometimes every few weeks for a busy household.

Who covers Kent

Clearmasters, with its main office at Smallfield near the Surrey border, runs its own tankers from 2,000 to 4,000 gallons and says it never subcontracts. It answers emergencies 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Drain Detectives, the trading name of Rexaus Group, covers Kent with 24/7 tanker response and also repairs drains and installs treatment plants. Peachy Services, from Kilmarnock Farm near Crawley, runs a fleet of tankers across Kent, Sussex and Surrey and also installs and services plants. Euroloo has a depot at Capel near Tonbridge as part of its national network.

Which firm for which job

For a regular cesspit collection in west Kent, around Tonbridge, Sevenoaks and Edenbridge, Clearmasters and Euroloo's Capel depot are closest. For mid Kent and the Maidstone area, see our Maidstone page. If the cesspit leaks, or you want to replace it with a treatment plant, ask Drain Detectives or Peachy, which both install.

Setting up a regular collection

Work out roughly how fast your cesspit fills: tank capacity divided by daily water use gives a guide. Then ask each firm for a price per load on a fixed schedule. A booked round is usually cheaper and less stressful than emergency calls when the high level alarm goes off. Our cesspit emptying cost page shows how to budget for a year.

Rules that apply

Kent follows the rules for England. GOV.UK says a cesspool must be emptied regularly, must not leak or overflow, and must be maintained by the owner. The waste must go with a registered waste carrier. Kent's district councils handle building control for new or replacement tanks.

Listed contractors

Sources

Each listing was checked against the business's own website on 19 October 2026:

• Clearmasters: own website
• Drain Detectives: own website
• Peachy Services: own website
• Euroloo: own website
• GOV.UK: general binding rules for small sewage discharges

See also the national service page and all mapped areas.