AJL,
The system cost €6,750 + VAT with delivery to Cork costing €600 + VAT, but that was 3 years ago, so it may have changed. The tank itself was much larger than I expected. It was about 5 times the size of the tank I was replacing and was made of concrete, but the delivery price included for lifting the tank off the truck and placing it in the hole. Biocycle’s installation engineers were pretty much on site from start to finish.
Before they arrived, though, I had to dig out the hole for the tank and bring the sewer and the power cable out to the tank and build the percolation area with soil and clean stone, based on the design they sent me.
The biocycle engineers installed the tank in the ground, connected the sewer into the tank, installed the pump in the tank, ran the pipe from the pump out to the percolation area, laid the percolation piping, put AJs into the percolation area and put in a terram membrane.
All that was left was to put a bit topsoil down over the terram and to wire the unit up and put the alarm panel, that biocycle supplied, in the house. I did the electrical work myself (I’m an electrician), so that saved a few quid.
I don’t know was it down to the fact that I was getting good at putting these things in, but it all went without a hitch, apart from the weather that is! The information I was sent out before the actual tank arrived was easy to follow and probably made things my end a bit easier.
All in all, it cost me in or around €10,000 including VAT. This wasn’t bad at all, considering the tank I had to replace cost about €5,500 to put in. When I add on the emptying costs (about €3,040), it comes to approx €8,500, which isn’t a million miles off the cost of the biocycle and the ground works involved. I’m kicking myself now for not putting in a right system from day one, but you live and learn.
The main problem that I see with putting in a waste water treatment system is that there are a massive amount of systems and suppliers out there. They all claim to do the same thing and they pretty much all have Agrement Certificates (these are building product certificates). I went through all of these certs with a fine tooth comb my second time around and came to the conclusion that they weren’t worth much! All of the treatment plants seem to work based on similar principles, yet some are about 3 cubic metres in size and others are 12 cubic metres in size, with all plants supposedly treating the sewage to the same quality! Something didn't make sense, so I decided to err on the side of caution this time!
If you shop around and do some calculations, remember that the emptying cost is the big one. I got shafted with my original tank because I was told that once a year was enough to empty it, but I ended up having to do it 4 times a year. When I was getting the new one I made sure I got one that would need very little emptying. I’m told once every 7 to 10 years is enough, but we’ll see! It’s 3 years in and so far so good. I’ve already saved about €4,500 on the first tank I put in.
Also, my advice is to deal with a company that can stand over their design and installation. If you can get the company to put it in not only the tank, but the percolation area as well, it’s definitely worth it! That way, if anything goes wrong, they’ll have to stand over it! You won’t get fobbed off then by being told “you put it in, so you must have made a balls of it!”
Keep a file of all the paperwork to do with your percolation tests, the tank and percolation area design, installation certificates, etc. so if anything goes wrong you’ll at least have a starting point. It’s also vital to make sure the company you’re dealing with has insurance cover for the work they’re doing. Ask for an insurance cert! Again, this is a mistake that I made first time around, and paid the price.
Hope this has been of use!
J