Septic Tank Alternatives

GoneShootin

Do any exist? I may have a situation where the only way I can get planning is to have a non-septic tank arrangement. What are my options?

muffler

There are loads of alternatives out there. Package plants we call them (in Donegal that is ). If you are only about to go through the planning process you will need a site assessment carried out. Depending on where you are located this assessment may be carried out by your local council or privately.

The results of that assessment will indicate what type of system is best suited for your site. I can only speak for my own county but since the assessments became compulsory about 9 months ago the traditional septic tank would only be considered in approx. 10% of the sites as opposed to maybe up to 70% prior to that.

Biocycle and Puraflo are 2 of the more widely known package plants (and also 2 of the most expensive) but there are loads of others. Just make sure that you choose a system that has an Irish Agrement Cert.

GoneShootin

Thanks for that muffler. My problem is that my intended site is within the catchment area of a "slurry/water pollutant" exclusion zone. There's a water source that's used to distribute water to the local village, and an EU directive from 2006 prohibits farmers from spreading or storing slurry etc on fields within a certain distance of such a source.

While the directive is heavily geared towards farming, a septic tank could be deemed as storing slurry-type matieral, and thus could be a potential water pollutant. So, I need to come up with alternatives, just in case when I do get the local area engineer out that I have options to talk over with him.

And god dammit - it was/is a beautfiul site!

smashey

Hey GoneShootin,

There are guidelines regarding location of the system and the percolation area with regard to distances from boundaries and from water sources etc. The person doing your site assessment should be able to work within these constraints and advise accordingly.