Nearly half of household septic tanks near rivers and drinking wells failed inspection

"Faulty septic tanks are a risk to human health and the environment and must be fixed"

By: irishmirror.ie

May 09 2024
0
1 Views

Nearly half of household septi

Almost half of the household septic tanks inspected near rivers and drinking wells failed last year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Faulty household wastewater systems can contaminate drinking water with harmful bacteria while sewage can leak into gardens, ditches and streams, causing water quality issues like the algae that spread across Lough Neagh because of excess nitrogen and phosphorus.

As a result, local authorities are tasked with examining a set number of tanks every year in a bid to improve their impact on the environment. But five Irish councils failed to meet their target last year - Wexford, Limerick, Donegal, Galway county and Leitrim.

A total of 13 then fell short when it came to ensuring the faults found were fixed by the end of 2023. Waterford, Cork City, Roscommon and Kilkenny had the least percentage fixed at between 45 per cent and 57 per cent respectively, while Galway county and Leitrim had a 66 per cent fix rate.

Dr Tom Ryan, director of the EPA's office of environmental enforcement, said: "Faulty septic tanks are a risk to human health and the environment and must be fixed.

"The EPA, through the National Inspection Plan, has identified rivers and areas where household drinking water wells are most at risk of contamination by faulty septic tanks. Local authority inspections are targeted in these areas. It is critical that householders protect their family’s health and the environment by fixing the problems identified, drawing on the enhanced grants now available."

Domestic waste water is a significant pressure on water quality in 148 (9 per cent) at-risk water bodies in Ireland. Last year, a total of 1,189 tanks were inspected across council areas despite the overall target of 1,200. Of those, 532 failed because they were not built or maintained properly.

But even when those failures have been uncovered and local authorities issue advisory notices to householders setting out what is needed to fix the problem, the EPA found there have been 574 cases where issues notified to householders over two years previously had still not been addressed.

Noel Byrne, EPA Programme Manager said: "It is unacceptable that the number septic tanks left un-fixed for more than two years continues to rise. Greater enforcement is needed by local authorities to ensure failed systems are fixed.

"Where faulty septic tanks are not being fixed, particularly given the availability of the enhanced grant scheme, local authorities need to use their enforcement powers to protect the environment and public health."

Grant schemes for remediation of septic tanks were changed at the start of 2024 to increase the amount available from €5,000 to €12,000 and remove the requirement to have registered the septic tank in 2013, giving householders an even greater opportunity to fix their septic tanks and resolve open advisory notices.

Join the Irish Mirror’s breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive breaking news and the latest headlines direct to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.