Septic tanks inspections needed to prevent polluted drinking water, EPA warns

THE 350,000 septic tanks servicing rural houses countrywide must be inspected more to ensure they are not polluting drinking water and do not pose a hazard to protect public health, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warned yesterday

Local authorities are responsible for granting planning permission for septic tanks for one-off rural houses and enforcing the law.

But the latest EPA groundwater report has revealed that many rural group water schemes are contaminated and the main sources of this pollution are septic tanks and small wastewater schemes, EPA programme manager Gerard O’Leary said.