query on planning/percolation etc

H

highlights

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Hi

If anyone can be of help here I'd appreciate it! We have been trying to get ourselves sorted to apply for planning permission in Wexford but it's one thing after the other!

We failed our percolation tests as the site we hope to build on is mainly marl with no soakage so we then went down the route of testing a stream close by for a drainage license for the water treatment system we could buy but we just got the results back have been told this stream is not suitable owing to high chemical content from farmers spraying land etc.

So is this it for us or is there another option we can explore to build where we want to?
 
Highlights,

There is a rainwater harvester on the market that also treats the foul water and puts it through a number of different processes and can be used as drinking water again, showering water and sink waters. you'll have to research it though i don't know the name of the company.
 
Thanks for the reply JoeHooker

I know of the treatment plants that apparently purifies our sewerage and what leaves the system is drinkable water (nice eh? ) but its this "clean" water that we need to flow into a stream, but the water testing must show that the stream is not polluted, if it is Wexford Co Countil will not allow us use it for discharge, is there any way round this that you know of?
 
Farmers wouldn't be spraying this time of year.

It might be a bad time to test the water due to run off from farms causing bad pollution levels in the water. Maybe do another test in the summer, although that is a busier time for spraying!
 
Highlights,

If there is a problem with the stream it's from someone, showing the results to the council way be the catalysist that they need to find the culprits that are polluting the field, if spreading is done right in the right time of the year there should be no runoff. the only thing i could say is you could ensure your planning department that you are not suppling the stream with any extra pollutents.

Did you look into installing a reed bed after your treatment systems these systems will get the BOD/COD levels down to single figures well below EPA standards

Joe
 
Thanks again JoeHooker,

Sorry to ask the obvious but what's a reed bed and where could I find out about them? Would the council take this into account so that we could use the stream?
 
Highlights,

The reed bed, well i know kingspan construct them, there a plastic container about 2m x 4m and a number of different chambers with reeds planted in them the treated effluent passes through the different chambers getting filtered more every chamber it enters. These systems are enough to treat water in normal cases on there own, but you require almost clear water so you will have to combine a treatment system with the reed bed. The water from the outlet of this system is nearly good enough to drink so i heard. It works out roughly the same price as if you would have to construct a perculation are of sand or topsoil.

The reed bed looks the spit of a pond when its fully installed you would neve know the difference.

Hope this helps, my land has bad drainage as well but i can get away with a raised perculation area, but i might install a reed bed yet, so i wont have to look at an ugly mound.
 
Dude - contact the Sewage treatment companies . Bord na Mona or envirocare.
We had to go down the root of the envirocare treatment system (carlow)..pm me if you need any info
 
Hi,

I had a similar problem with my site failing the percolation test (although it wasn't a marsh site, just a wet site)

Anyway I used a guy called Tom Keenan in Ashbourne, Co. Meath and he managed to get it to pass the test with some engineering knowhow. I'm not sure if he works countrywide but he's very good and thorough. Might be worth a ring.

His webite is http://www.nesa.ie/
 
Mez,

Theres no point in rigging a percolation test, when this time next year your land is flooded and theres a weird smell coming from the percolation area. It's in your own interest to put in a proper treatment system, the council will know anyhow when they call out to do there report only certain trees, shrubs and plants grow in very wet conditions and its very easy to spot when you have knowledge and experience.
 
Highlights,
As far as I know the percolation T test just establishes the requirement of whether percolation beds are required or not. Since yours failed ie the T value was greater than 50, you need to put in a raised percolation filter which is just layers of different graded stone surrounded in a geo textile at the outlet of your treatment system. This was the case with our site. further details are on the EPA web site. A falied percolation test shouldn't be the end of your plans.
 
Rang Bord na Mona and after some hard sell on their treatment system the sales chap eventually confirmed that if the water tested in the stream is polluted we cant use it to discharge from the treatment plant so it looks like all depends on the second test.

What I dont understand is - these treatment plants are supposed to turn waste water into "drinkable" water but we cant let this out into an already polluted stream? Does that make sense?
 



I'd very carefull about libelling anyone. You obviously don't know what you're talking about.

If you actually read what I wrote you will see that through "engineering knowhow" the site passed. Which means that providing certain work is carried out to the site it will pass the test. My county council accepted this. Can't speak for the rest.

This work will ensure than even if you simultaneously flushed every toilet and emptied every bath and sink in the house on the wettest day of the year, the water and effluent would perculate away safely and properly.

How do you think people manage to obtain planning permission beside bogs, on the side of mountains and beside lakes? Do they all rig their applications?
 
Mez
Relax a wee bit.
For whats its worth i know people who have used 'engineering knowledge' to pass a percolation test. For some it took up to 9 months for the site to be acceptable. And i cant see the problem. If you are planning ahead you can drain the site or do work on the site to improve the chances of passing the test. If it work fair play.
 
Highlights,
Why cant you discharge to a percolation bed ? You shouldn't have to discharge to the river. The beds 'polish' the waste water prior to it discharging overland. Check the EPA web site for Treatment Systems for Single Houses. All the answers are there.
 
Hi Denisom

Apparently because there is no soakage on the land we need the stream to discharge into- the problem is the Co. council wont allow us to use the stream if it's polluted! I'll check that website now!

Thanks
 
If you contact a reputable hydrogeologist they should be able to advise on solution. Probably best to go to an independent person rather than one of the manufacturers. There are a number of solutions but a knowledgeable person will need to visit the site to assess it first.
 
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