Septic Tank Inspections

The Water Services (Amendment) Bill provides for a proportionate and risk based method for the inspection of septic tanks.

All house holders that have a septic tank or similar system on their property will be required to register with the local authority. A national database willl then be compiled.

The registration system will begin in April 2012 and people will then have 12 months to register.

The fee for registering within the first 3 months from April 2012 will be €5 and there after it rises to €50.

An interval of 5 years is forecast between each inspection.

After an inspection a householder may be instructed to carry out maintenance on their septic tank sytem or in other cases remedial works may be needed or even upgrades.

Septic tanks which are not working properly can damage the local environment and in some cases even affect the quality of drinking water.

It is understood that the inspections will begin in 2013.

The inspections will be concentrated on areas that have been classed as high risk. Areas that fall into the low risk category will still be subject to inspections but at a lower rate.