What is a percolation area?

In the broadest strokes possible, percolation is the process of liquid slowly being put through a filter. In a septic tank or a wastewater system, the percolation area is a large area of soil where the filtered water is passed into.

What are the problems associated with a Percolation Area?

Unfortunately, problems do occur with a percolation area. An obvious and distressing sign that there’s something wrong with your percolation area, is a bad smell. Also, if you notice cracks on your septic tank lid. This is also a sign you have an issue with your percolation area and septic tank.
One of the major reasons for a problem with your septic tank and by extension your percolation area is to do with overflowing.
In a septic tank, unfiltered materials form on the top of the septic tank water. This layer of solids is referred to as the sludge layer. When a septic tank becomes too full this sludge layer begins to seep into pipes and overflow into the surrounding soil and land. To stop this from happening, it’s necessary to empty – de-sludge – your septic tank. A septic tank emptying removes the sludge layer from the septic tank, ensuring the tank and the percolation area are operating effectively.

Can a percolation area be installed anywhere?

Unfortunately not, only certain areas have the soil with the necessary absorption rate. To ensure your soil has the necessary absorption rate, you’ll need a perc test. This test will determine if a percolation area can be installed in a defined area.

For more information on this topic, see our percolation areas page or get in contact with Abbey Environmental today.

Nobody wants to experience a septic tank overflow. To avoid spillages, we recommend regular septic tank emptying. But how does one know when to empty their septic tank? There are a few tell-tale signs that we recommend you look out for?

Signs that your septic tank is almost full?

Toilet or Washing Machine becomes sluggish

An obvious but often overlooked sign that your septic tank is almost full is a dip in the performance of your washing machine and toilet. In the case of the toilet if it isn’t flushing properly you should immediately check your septic tank. Wastewater is separated from solids once it hits the tank. Solid waste then sinks to the bottom of the plastic or concrete septic tank. Once this begins to fill up it may begin to block the drainage pipe and therefore affect the performance of the toilet and washing machine.

Pooling Water

If it hasn’t rained in a while but you're still seeing pools of water around where your septic tank is buried, it’s a safe bet that this water is coming from your tank. A tank full of sludge will push water up to the surface.

Slow Drains

If one or even two drains are draining slower than usual in your home, it’s more than likely that they is a blockage in the individual drain. However, if all the drains are draining slowly it could well be due to a full septic tank.

Odours

One of the more distressing and unpleasant signs that your tank needs emptying is a foul odour. There shouldn’t be any odours around where your septic tank is buried. If there is an unmissable stench, then your septic tank likely needs to be emptied.

Sewer back-up

Possible the worst consequence of a full septic tank is a sewer in your home backing up. This can cause untold stress and damage and is an unmissable sign that your septic tank is full.

Call us today if you need your septic tank emptied. For more information on this topic, please visit our septic tank emptying page.

With a septic tank, any solids that enter the tank sink to the bottom. Anything that floats moves to the top of the tank forming the catchily titled scum layer. The water in between the scum layer and the bottom of the tank contains bacteria and various chemicals. Slowly but surely the waste in a septic tank is broken down through natural processes.
A wastewater treatment system, on the other hand, takes a much more active approach to breaking down waste. Within the wastewater treatment system, mechanical discs trigger a process known as "aerobic bacterial breakdown." This process means the water can be released into a defined area in the ground for further treatment. This area is referred to as the percolation area.
Even from this basic explanation of how septic tanks and wastewater treatment areas work, you might begin to understand why a wastewater system costs more than a septic tank.

Installation of a Wastewater system

A major factor when costing a wastewater system is the complexity of the installation. As we already touched on, a wastewater system is more complex than a septic tank and requires a larger installation area. The percolation area along with the actual system needs space to be installed. This could likely increase the installation time as stones, rocks and other obstacles will likely need to be removed before the installation can begin in earnest.
While you may have heard that a wastewater system may cost anywhere from €2500 to €3500 it’s impossible to give an accurate quote without first accessing the site.

accurate bioCycle quotes

Our team of expert engineers have installed numerous bioCycle wastewater treatment systems in domestic and commercial properties all over Clare. We can give you an accurate quote of what the installation will cost when we access your property. If you’re interested in receiving an accurate quote rather than a rough figure, please contact us today. For more information on the bioCycle units, please visit our septic tank installations page.