Wetlands solution to waste problem

OPPOSITION politicians are having a field day with the septic tank issue in rural Ireland, gladly joining protesters who are packing village halls in their hundreds to rail against the €50 fee for tank inspections.

Yet, some of the same politicians were part of the previous Fianna Fáil/PD Government which openly recognised the need for regulation in an area that has serious implications for public health, especially in regard to drinking water which poorly functioning septic tanks can poison.

In some cases, up to 57% of ground water samples are contaminated by human waste, according to state agencies.

As chairman of Joint Committee on Heritage, Environment and Local Government, Fianna Fáil Deputy Sean Fleming, accepted the lack of regulation of wastewater services was “highly unsatisfactory”, while Environment Minister John Gormley intended implementing the recommendations in the joint committee’s report.

Objectors are largely focussed on the cost to householders of rectifying their septic tanks, rather than coming up with solutions. So, you could say it’s time for a bit of thinking outside the tank. For, there are other ways of treating human and animal waste, which are working in different parts of Ireland.

We have about 400,000 septic tanks, with 300,000 being the traditional variety — basically, brick-lined holes in the ground into which discharges from toilets in a house are flushed. Often, the tanks were just slapped up and not properly sealed.

A septic tank is defined as a small sewage treatment system in areas with no connection to main sewers, but many do not “treat”. Between 250,000 and 300,000 septic tanks are not working as intended: they overflow and seep into watercourses, as numerous reports have highlighted.

In 2009, the Government was taken to the European Court of Justice for not doing its job in relation to septic tanks and percolation areas. In May 2011, the EU had us in court again, with a €2.7m fine and a daily penalty of €26,000 still hanging over us.

The proliferation of one-off houses during the boom years greatly added to the number of septic tanks. There is an alternative, however, even if all septic tanks cannot be replaced.

UCC doctorate student Fergus McAuliffe believes constructed wetlands can go some of the way. With wetlands, waste is pumped into a receiving pond: after that, it flows by gravity through number of vegetated ponds. As it slowly flows through the ponds, the waste is treated by plants and other organisms and is eventually discharged as clear water into a river or stream.

The system is already working successfully in parts of counties Monaghan and Waterford and Kerry County Council has two pilot schemes underway.

Treatment levels are very good, with up to 95% removal of organic matter, and running costs are quite low, according to Mr McAuliffe, of the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science, UCC.

He also points to downsides, including lower temperatures in winter which slow the treatment process. Also, the liquid discharging from the wetlands needs to be monitored. That would cost — a cost which has hampered the spread of wetlands. However, he emphasises, the biggest issue is the large amount of ground that’s needed for the wetlands — often as much as that taken up by a house itself. Many house sites simply don’t have the space.

Writing in The Boolean, he hopes his research will also find a way of reducing the amount of ground that’s needed by the average homeowner for a wetlands system.

Funding is a key issue in the septic tank controversy. People dread being faced with bills for thousands of euro to upgrade, or replace, the tanks with modern facilities. Given that we are obliged to enforce EU laws, a strong argument can be made for EU money to remedy the situation. Indeed, could we not have grant-aided, small wetlands schemes, similar to group water schemes? Many villages around the country are deficient in waste treatment services and wetlands offer a solution. Glaslough in Co Monaghan has a wetlands scheme catering for a 700-population, but designed for two and half times that number.

Supported by the Department of the Environment, the Glaslough project provides three times the capacity of a traditional sewage scheme at half the price. What’s more, the wetlands have also become a public amenity with horse riding trails.

In the Anne Valley, Co Waterford, constructed wetlands have been used since the 1990’s to treat farm run-off, while the village of Dunhill also uses the system. Water quality in a stream running through the valley has hugely improved and, reportedly, sea trout are returning to it.

Large quantities of liquid waste from the Kilmeaden food plant, in Co Waterford, are also being treated in 10-hectare wetlands site. In Co Kerry, a sewage problem in the popular Rossbeigh beach area is being similarly resolved, with Kerry County Council’s director of environmental services Oliver Ring saying: “We see constructed wetlands as the best solution for small communities.”