Rural householders should report their leaking septic tanks
Rural householders with defective septic tanks should have the opportunity to report this matter to the local authority and tap in to the grants available to carry out the necessary repairs or modifications.
This is the view of a Galway West TD who explained that under the current legislation, houses with septic tanks are being inspected on a random basis and home owners do not have the facility to report a tank that is leaking.
However, the vast majority of householders would consider this move as “bringing trouble on themselves” by reporting a faulty septic tank which could cost thousands of euro to repair.
But Deputy Noel Grealish said that he had come across a number of elderly people who had dated septic tanks which were leaking and wanted the opportunity to either repair or replace them with the assistance of grants that are available.
He said that householders with leaking septic tanks will not carry out repairs without getting some financial assistance from the State. At the moment they can only avail of grant assistance if their septic tanks are randomly inspected.
The local authorities do not have the resources to carry out extensive septic tank inspections which means that, on average, around 50 County Galway houses had their tanks inspected during the course of 2013.
Deputy Grealish is now calling for changes to the Water Services Act to allow the public to ask for an inspection to be carried out on their own septic tanks if they wish to.
“I know of an elderly couple who have an antiquated septic tank which is leaking. They simply want an inspection carried out on it so that they can then apply for grant assistance to upgrade it”, he added.
He explained that homeowners cannot apply for grant aid to carry out repairs to their septic tank unless they are officially inspected by the local authority.
“The purpose of the Water Services Amendment Act 2012 is to improve the quality of ground and surface water and prevent pollution from domestic waste water treatment plants, but inspections will only be carried out randomly and homeowners cannot request the local authority to inspect their septic tanks if they believe that it is not performing correctly.
“As people can only qualify for a grant if their septic tank is inspected and deemed inadequate, I foresee a situation whereby homeowners will not maintain or repair their systems, as they cannot apply for a grant unless a random inspection occurs.’
“The legislation needs to be changed to enable people who think their septic tank is inadequate to request an inspection and when necessary apply for a grant for repairs, Deputy Grealish added.