Package sewage treatment plant and pump station supply only

Know what you want?

At Hutchinson Environmental Solutions we regularly deal with a wide range of manufacturers and suppliers and can source most finished products – cesspools/cesspits, septic tanks, package pump stations, package sewage treatment plants, oil/water interceptors, wash-down separators, rainwater harvesters, grease traps and grease management systems, to name the more common ones - and spare parts – motors, blowers, pumps, air filters, diaphragms, etc. - at least as competitively as internet resellers. If you know exactly what you want, just call.

Or not sure?

One of the big advantages of the internet for consumers is, once you know what you want, price comparison. But we are told again and again by potential customers that, while prices are posted quite clearly, they really aren’t sure what they’re going to get if they press the “Buy now” button. If you’re not sure what you need – and there are a host of “me too” e-commerce websites out there offering “price, not advice” - and are wondering which package sewage treatment plant or pump station or septic tank will offer you best value for money as part of your off-mains wastewater treatment scheme, and why one costs twice as much as another that does “just the same thing”, it will pay you to bear the following in mind:

• For package sewage treatment plants, will the biological treatment process consistently achieve the required quality of treated effluent? And how will you know, both before you buy it and after you’ve installed it?
• For package pump stations, are the pumps double-sealed, are the impellers just spot welded, are they balanced or not, on guide rails or chains? Do you know the implications of these questions?
• Quality of build and components used. Even though some products look very similar to one another, they are not all created equal; for example, some will withstand a rough desludge contractor, others won’t.
• Guarantees and warranties. What are they, and what value do they have in reality if you’re a trade customer or a consumer?
• How much will it cost to run? Some treatment processes require less energy than others.
• How much will it cost to maintain? How much is a service visit, including consumable spare parts and replacements in the event of failure?
• Who will maintain it?
• What will it look like when it’s in the ground? Some plants have large covers, others much smaller access manholes.
• What inlet and outlet inverts are you working to? Are site-fitted neck extensions covered by the standard warranty, or not? And what difference does it make?
• Is your “preferred supplier” only your preferred supplier because of price?
• Where is your preferred supplier based, in the event of a problem?
• What back-up can your preferred supplier offer? They will no doubt know what a sewage treatment plant does – the answer’s in the name – but do they understand the biology of how and why it works, in case it doesn’t? Do you?
• If you buy from an internet reseller and there’s a problem once the plant is installed, do they have their own service engineers, or indeed anyone, to rectify it?
• If it does all go very wrong, what are the likely consequences? Environmentally – not just at discharge point, but around the plant or pump station itself? Financially – how much will it cost to clean up and then put right? If you’re in the hotel, catering and hospitality sector, how would your business cope with such an interruption? Who would you call?

If, after asking these questions, the cost of the plant still outweighs the value of any reassurance you’re looking for, then buy it, and call us to commission and maintain it.

The best deal?

Are you any better off dealing directly with a manufacturer? Manufacturers will certainly tell you about their own products but they’re hardly likely to tell you that their competitor’s product is better, are they? As with approaching only Barclays for a mortgage, you are limiting your options to that one manufacturer’s product offer. You could, of course, approach a range of manufacturers yourself but that would require some knowledge of the different sewage treatment processes they employ, or of the reputations of various pump manufacturers, or of the different qualities of GRP or MDPE or HDPE used for the tanks, or of the real-world value of tempting extended warranty offers, in order for you to be able to evaluate claims made in the promotional literature.

Independence and choice

With over 40 years’ experience not only of the supply of off-mains sewage treatment and pumping products but also of system design, installation and, critically, day-to-day running and maintenance, we at Hutchinson Environmental Solutions have built up a unique body of experience of different manufacturers’ products and the types of application and sites to which each is best suited, experience from which you benefit when you buy from us.

Good value doesn’t have to cost the earth.