Nearly half of all septic tank inspections failed last year

Almost half of all septic tanks inspected last year failed, posing risks to human health and the environment.

This is despite a more than doubling of the grant available to fix faulty systems.

It has led to calls from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for increased enforcement, and prosecutions where warranted, to secure repairs and to protect the environment and public health.

The details are contained in the EPA’s Domestic Waste Water Treatment System Inspections 2023 report.

Domestic wastewater treatment systems, mostly septic tanks, are used by householders to treat sewage. There are nearly half a million such systems in Ireland.

The EPA’s national inspection plan requires local authorities to complete a minimum of 1,200 septic tank inspections annually, particularly those located near rivers and in areas where septic tanks are co-located with household drinking water wells, and which are most at risk of contamination by faulty septic tanks.

The inspections report shows that of the 1,189 systems inspected last year, 532 failed because they were not built or maintained properly.

Where an inspection is failed, local authorities issue advisory notices to householders setting out what is required to fix the problem.

Enforcement

However, the report shows that there were 576 cases where issues notified to the owners of septic tanks over two years previously had still not been addressed. 

This is despite the septic tank remediation grant increasing from €5,000 to €12,000.

The report also shows that local authorities took just eight legal cases last year against householders for alleged failure to resolve faulty sewage treatment systems, with 95% of all legal actions taken by just four local authorities — Wexford, Kerry, Mayo, and Limerick.

The report says the enforcement of advisory notices by local authorities is inconsistent, with significant numbers of failures combined with a low level of resolution found in Waterford, Roscommon, and Kilkenny.

Dr Tom Ryan, the 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 grant presents “a significant opportunity” for householders to fix their septic tanks and resolve open advisory notices, he said.

“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,” he said.

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