Percolation Failed - Is all lost??

shiner1

Hi guys,
I have a site near Croom, Co.Limerick which I've owned for about 10 years but due to working and living in Dublin never got around to doing anything with it.
There is currently an OLD house on the site and I had plans drawn up for a 4 bedroom house.
My problem is this:
It's failed the percolation test and my architect said it was a no go due to the fail. Upon hearing this I got a new architect who says it is possible, because there is a dwelling on the site already.

What are my options?

Sorry for being so vague but I really don't have a clue where or what to do...

Thanks for any help.

sydthebeat

in limerick, does the council or agents do the perc test??

if the council does do they do retests??

is the building currently habitable? does it have a complete roof and all windows??

shiner1

An agent did the test.

The building is OK, walls and roof, I originally had plans to build onto the current building, but, have since decided to build at the other end of the site. Site is 2/3 of acre.

Ginger83

If you could set up a meeting with your planners one option that would be a good possibility would be to renovate the dwelling standing to a living condition and apply for planning permission to extend this.

There are sewerage systems out there to compensate for bad drainage. One I looked into myself was the reed-bed drainage system but it would be best to check what systems the local authority would allow.
Best of luck with it anyway.

Jimbo

Definatly not a lost cause.
Why did it fail?
Percolation too fast/slow?
Watertable too high?
There are ways to get any problem e.g. raised percolation with imported soil, reed beds, uv screening, ploughing of site to break impermeable clay layers...

Mallini

Hi Shiner1,

It's definitely not a lost cause if you fail the percolation test. After a year of "discussions" with Limerick Co Co I managed to agree a treatment system on my own site. What values did you achieve in the P & T tests ?? What's the soil profile ??