What is the Cost of Installing New Sewage Treatment Systems?

The cost of a Oakstown sewage, or wastewater treatment system, depends on which system you require. Oakstown Environmental manufacture both pumped and gravity discharge systems.

We can supply a 6PE Sewage Treatment System, ideal for most domestic homes, including pump for €3,800 ex-vat and the gravity system for €3,650 ex vat all systems delivered to site.

We also supply a larger 8PE Sewage treatment System, see more here.

Our PE6 system is supplied with concrete risers to maximum height of 900mm, up to 50 meters of 7 core SWA cable, control panel, air blower, water pump (depending on system) and a two-year guarantee on all components.

Cost of Installing a new Septic Tank

If you wish to install a new septic tank, our cost starts from €1150 + vat – read more on septic tanks here.

Why use a sewage treatment system/wastewater treatment system and not a septic tank?

The Oakstown wastewater treatment system provides treatment of all wastewater from the dwelling, whereas a septic tank simply separates it.

This means that the wastewater that leaves the treatment system is cleaner than what leaves a septic tank and it’s certainly a lot more environmentally friendly.

What maintenance is involved in a BAF Sewage Treatment System?

The Oakstown BAF wastewater treatment system should be desludged every 3 to 5 years depending on usage and serviced every 12 months.

When our technicians call out to service a system they will spend on average 45-75 minutes on site, completing a full digital service report for your system.

Some of the checks made are Forward blower pressure, Back pressure of the Air system, Dissolved Oxygen reading of treatment chamber, PH level of water in discharge chamber, all electrical items tested or repaired.

All alarms on system checked for operation. Details of any issues or need for desludging reported to customer.

—  Original Article  —

O’Reilly Oakstown Environmental talks about the cost of installing new sewage treatment systems

After flooding a few years ago in 2016, it has become apparent that many septic tanks in rural areas are not working efficiently and may need upgrading. A septic tank is traditionally used for the primary treatment of sewage from most rural houses. Many older houses will only have a septic tank and some form of percolation area for sewage treatment but this is not always sufficient for treating sewage.

“In the septic tank the sludge settles, while the crust floats and the liquid or grey water moves on to the percolation area. Over 99.5% of all solids should be retained in the tank,” explained Diarmuid of O’Reilly Oakstown.

Sewage treatment takes place here via anaerobic digestion, generally breaking down the effluent by 30%. Typically, in older systems the grey water (partially treated sewage) goes to the percolation area where the soil is expected to do the remaining 70% of sewage treatment.

How the system should work

Many Irish soils are unsuitable to carry out this level of sewage treatment and secondary treatment is usually required.

A secondary treatment system takes the partially digested water and feeds it to bacteria that break it down further.

There are many different types of secondary sewage treatment systems.

In Oakstown we use a three-chamber secondary treatment process to digest, clarify and then pump the water from the two primary chambers. In the bioreactors aerobic bacteria are cultured on durable netted plastic biomedia. This gives the microbes adequate surface to attach to while air is blown through the tubes from a low-watt blower sitting on top of the tank.

The air enters the tubes from the bottom of the tank and diffuses into millions of tiny bubbles, allowing the aerobic bacteria to thrive.

The inclusion of both air and grey water activates the bacteria to work on further breaking down the sewage via aerobic digestion, and making it less harmful to the environment.

The second chamber acts as a clarifier to periodically remove any solids which may get to that stage. The final chamber is the discharge area. Here a water pump moves treated sewage from the system to the percolation area. Up 99% of the sewage treatment efficiency can be achieved after it goes through the combination of primary and secondary treatment.

Repairing an existing system

The main signs that a sewage treatment system is not functioning properly is water backing up in sewers and ponding around the percolation area. Sometimes it may be possible to fix a tank by fixing the T-bend where the waste enters the primary tank.

A properly functioning T-bend slows down the rate of movement of solids into the tank, reducing the splash effect in the tank so that a scum layer can form creating anaerobic conditions for waste water treatment.

Baby wipes should never be let into a tank because they cannot be broken down and cause blockages.

However, many old sewage treatment systems are beyond repair and are not fit for purpose. Some older tanks have structural cracks or the percolation system no longer works efficiently. Diarmuid believes these systems should be upgraded. Certainly, both septic tanks and sewage treatment systems should be desludged regularly.

Installing a new system

Planning permission is required when installing a new system but this is on the basis of a report from a soil engineer who will assess the site and recommend what type of treatment system is necessary.

A site assessment will determine whether or not a particular site can achieve the safe dispersal of wastewater from a development. Diarmuid says soil engineers carry out T-tests and P-tests. Very good soils that are efficient at treating grey water in a percolation area will typically have a T-test result of five to 20.

Extremely free-draining soils with a T-test result under five would likely require a secondary treatment system because partially treated sewage may make its way directly into groundwater or wells too easily.

On the other hand, wetter soils with a T-test over 20 would also be more likely to require secondary sewage treatment because in time there may be a risk of clogging in average to poor soils.

Cost of Installing New Sewage Treatment Systems – [Updated 2022]

The cost of installing new sewage treatment systems depends on which system you require. Oakstown Environmental manufacturer both pumped and gravity discharge systems. We can supply a PE6 including pump for €3,800 ex-vat and the gravity system for €3,650 ex vat all systems delivered to site.

Our PE6 system is supplied with concrete risers to maximum height of 900mm, up to 50 meters of 7 core SWA cable, control panel, air blower, water pump (depending on system) and a two-year guarantee on all components.

Contact us here to find out about installing new sewage treatment systems and finance options available

Grant Aid 

There are currently 3 grant systems to help witn the cost of installing new sewage treatment systems, which we explain in more detail on this link.

1. Under the NIP (National Inspection Plan), Septic tank grants can be used to fix septic tank systems that fail inspection by a Local Authority. They may need remediation, repair, upgrading or replacement.
   85% of the eligible costs of remediation, repair or upgrading works, or replacement of any such system or €5,000, whichever is the lower.
2. Prioritised Areas for Action, ie that are or may be causing harm to the environment and need remediation, repair, upgrading or replacement.
   The house must be located in a PAA in accordance with the River Basin Management Plan.  85% of the approved cost of the works subject to a maximum of €5,000. The minimum expenditure on eligible works required to process the application is €750.
3. There is also High Status Catchment Area – to find out of your house in in the catchment area click here and follow the map instructions

 

(Original article By Peter Varley Farmers Journal)

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Engagement Strategy under the National Inspection Plan: Domestic Wastewater Treatment Systems
The EPA have just launched a new website Catchments.ie which will make it easier for people to get information about the quality of their local river, lake, estuary or the hidden waters below ground. It will also provide information about what people can do to help protect their local water catchment. Catchments.ie allows easier public access to water-related environmental data that has been gathered by the EPA and other bodies, with maps pages and nearly 5000 dynamically generated pages of data that will be updated regularly, including long term trends for many waterbodies. The site will also have stories from local communities around the country. The resource is the culmination of extensive collaboration between the EPA, local authorities and other organisations in compiling key datasets. Read Full Press Release Here.

Catchments.ie are currently running a survey on Septic Tanks and how you relate to your local catchment.

They would like to use the results of this survey to improve communication with local communities, specifically on the possible health and environmental risk from malfunctioning septic tank systems. Please help out by completing the survey on this link  or clicking the button above.

 

Ear to the Ground with O’Reilly Oakstown demonstrating how a Septic Tank Upgrade is installed.

O’Reilly Oakstown manufacture the BAF Sewage Treatment System, Septic Tanks, Oil Water Separators, Rainwater Harvesting and Oil Theft Solutions. They are an award winning company providing Environmentally Friendly Sewage and Water treatment Products

O’Reilly Oakstown are proud to be associated with the 20th anniversary celebration of the Filming of Braveheart in the historic town of Trim

“If you have never visited Trim with its magnificent castle and surroundings before, do yourself a favour and see it this year. It’s a fascinating tour and a great day out.”

Septic Tank Inspections no longer making the headlines – Farmers Journal 12 July 2014

The septic tank inspection regime is in place for almost a year now – but faded from the headlines! Here’s an industry view on what has happened. Diarmuid O’Reilly, managing director of O’Reilly Oakstown, which manufactures the award winning BAF range of sewage treatment systems, has spoken to the Farmers Journal this week.

I recently looked over the EPA’s National Inspection Plan for treatment of household waste. What we see from the tables in it is that:

* The targets set are quite low, ie 1002 inspections per year for the WHOLE country. Quite honestly this is a little unambitious, given the numbers of septic tanks in the country, as it could conceivably take up to  480 years to complete the programme, assuming there is a moratorium on one-offs for the next half millennium.

* Secondly, while many counties have stepped up to the mark  including Limerick, Meath Westmeath, Louth and Wicklow, some had yet to start by the report date. That included Clare, Donegal, Leitrim and Offaly.

* So 423 inspections have been carried out. Of these 224 tanks failed for one reason or other, equal to 53%. Reasons given included leakage, unlicenced discharge, ponding, roofwater getting into the tank, lack of desludging, risk to health and operational/maintenance issues.

* Of the 224 advisory notices issued, only 27 had been resolve and closed off. That’s an average of one septic tank per county whose issues were resolved! Ensuring the country’s septic tanks are working properly is going to be a slow, long drawn out process!

* However, this may change as the councils get to grips with the inspection regime.

My thoughts on this, and speaking purely from a commercial point of view, is that the new regime is having no positive effect on sales and installation of new septic tanks and treatment systems and work for groundwork contractors, despite the existence of a grant of 80%, up to a maximum of €4,000 for those on incomes under €50,000 and €2,000 for incomes above this threshold.

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In actual fact, it is having a negative effect as homeowners would understandably be reluctant  to pay full price for upgrading their septic tank if there is is the slightest chance of grant-aid should they be inspected. And it is a very slight chance. In any one year there is a one-in -480 chance of being inspected, condemned and grant aided. There are 479 chances of not being inspected.

This is distorting  the market for new septic tanks and sewage treatment systems. As much as some people want and may badly need to improve their system and possibly take advantage of two glorious summers to do so, they are restrained by the prospect of easy money and a waiver from planning permission.

One thing to realise is that this regime is not a money making scheme for local authorities, far from it. In fact, it is a drain on their resources, which is not reimbursed from central funding, as far as we are aware.

Since the announcement  that grant aid is available  after inspection, should ones’ septic tank or percolation fail, public opinion has gone from initial resistance to inspections to openly welcoming them in many cases. Self- generation of inspections is not allowed, however, as county councils insist that they are strictly randomly generated.

New homeowners protected

While the inspection of existing septic tanks will be a slow process, a lot of progress has been made in raising the standards of sewage treatment for new-build houses. Gone are the days when the septic tank was an afterthought, often cobbled together from a couple of well liners followed by a perfunctory “soakhole” filled what ever rubble was left over from the build.

Now the treatment of sewage is the primary consideration. In other words, if you cannot percolate- you cannot even begin to plan to build. This is to ensure that, whatever type of system is installed, the final effluent can be dispersed effectively without posing a risk to health or property.

The current regulations for single house on-site sewage disposal operates in three distinct stages.  

• Planning application/ system design stage:  This is largely dealt with in the Department of Environments Code of Practice 2009 (CoP2009). It ensures an effective treatment system and percolation area / polishing filter is part of the initial planning of any house.

• Construction / certification stage: The septic tank / wastewater treatment system must comply with part H of the Building regulations 2010. Furthermore the installation and percolation area must be in accordance with the design granted at planning stage. Put plainly, this ensures that what is planned for is actually built. That protects the homeowner.

• Operation / Maintenance stage- The Water Services Amendment Act 2012 sets out the responsibilities of an owner of an on-site sewage tank/system.

All this and more can be found on the website of the Irish Water Treatment Association- www.IWTA.ie.  The IWTA is dedicated to raising standards and ethics in effluent treatment, something which is critically important when you consider how long you expect a wastewater treatment system to serve a house, ie  a lifetime!

You can change a cheap washing machine or dishwasher relatively easily when it fails, however a bargain basement sewage treatment system would be costly to replace.

Tax relief for homeowners

Another welcome development is the Home Renovation Scheme which offers tax relief to homeowners for home improvements. One of the areas covered under this broad scheme is repair or replacement of a septic tank, provided that it is the homeowner’s own house.

Take an example.  A home owner pays €3,500 plus VAT for a new treatment system and another €1,500 for the related groundwork, both VAT rated at 13.5% and both companies tax compliant.

The homeowner can reclaim €675 against future taxable income, calculated as €3,500 + €1,500 x 13.5%. While, in this case, the saving is less than the grant available under the NIP grant scheme, it is available to everyone. It can also be combined with  work by other contractors on a house to a maximum of €30,000, giving a tax saving of over €4,000. In addition it allows the homeowner take control of when they wish to do the upgrade work, rather than waiting – or hoping – for an inspection! So, some good news for homeowners for once!

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