Expert Witness
Because of David`s background in various types of water treatment and his commonsense approach to the industry, he is in great demand as an expert witness in various forms of pollution or water related cases.
If called in at an early stage, David prefers to arbitrate a solution if possible. The stress of the legal action and hassle involved (no matter how good your solicitor is) means that irrespective of who wins the court case, no one walks out of the court un-scarred.
It would be unprofessional to name names, so listed below are a few incidents which might give a flavour of the type of work undertaken.
What`s happening at the bottom of my garden?
In this case, there were four cottages, with a septic tank located in the grounds of one of the cottages. All four cottages have discharged to the single septic tank for over 80 years, all properties had a historical right of drainage. The problem was over the years the properties have increased in size, nearly everyone these days has indoor plumbing! Resulting in a problem with the Septic Tank and soakaway. In other words, sewage all over the garden! No one can agree on the solution, so the case goes to court. DT represents owner of property with septic tank and sewage on land. Site investigations, report and statement in court, results in the historical right of drainage being superseded on the grounds, that the ground was no longer capable of sustaining the present level of discharge. Alternative forms of drainage were possible and the court found in DT`s clients favour.
Arbitration
Take a couple of old ladies, a property with a septic tank and sewage in the front garden, add a builder who installs pump chamber and soakaway in the rear garden. Ok so far, but no porosity tests were carried out, the pump chamber was not surrounded in concrete and the result, sewage in the back garden and a pump chamber that was slowly rising from the ground! DT was initially contacted as an expert witness for the ladies, with the agreement of the solicitor, he contacted the builders direct and following his report and meetings, the moneys were returned in full and this matter never reached court. A new scheme has now been installed and there is no longer a problem with the drainage.
What Strange Breed of Treatment Plant is this!
A restaurant had a problem with it`s drainage, a sewage treatment plant and grease trap was installed. It appeared to be the right solution to the problem. However, the restaurant continued to polluted the water course. DT was called in to inspect the drainage system and establish the reason for the pollution. The grease trap was too small and located near the laundry and glass washer, the water temperature caused the fats to stay in emulsion and enter the drains and into the treatment plant. On inspecting the treatment plant, DT found that it had been been installed back to front, and was designed so that it was impossible to access the internals of the plant for servicing! This case did go to court and there was no surprise when the court found in the clients favour.
Pollution, technical trespass, flooding, these are all serious problems that cause allot of stress, worry and financial hardship. David firmly believes that it is his job to receive the stress levels and take the worry away in these situations. Financial hardship is harder to solve, but with David on your side you have a fighting chance.
If you have a similar problem, and feel that David could help you please feel free to contact David direct.
