I recently had the opportunity to look over the EPA’s national inspection plan for treatment of household waste. What we see from the tables in it is that:
The targets set are quite low, i.e. 1,002 inspections per year for the whole country. Quite honestly, this is unambitious, as it will take 480 years to complete the programme, assuming there is a moratorium on one-offs for the next half millennium.Secondly, while many counties have stepped up to the mark (including Limerick, Meath, Westmeath, Louth and Wicklow), some had yet to start by the report date (including Clare, Donegal, Leitrim and Offaly).So 423 inspections have been carried out. Of these, 224 tanks failed for one reason or another, equal to 53%. Reasons given included leakage, unlicenced discharge, ponding, roofwater getting into the tank, lack of desludging, risk to health and operational/maintenance issues.Of the 224 advisory notices issued, only 27 had been resolved and closed off. That’s an average of one septic tank per county whose issues were resolved. Ensuring the country’s septic tanks are working properly is going to be a slow, long drawn-out process.However, this may change as the councils get to grips with the inspection regime.My thoughts on this, and speaking purely from a commercial point of view, is that the new regime is having no positive effect on sales and installation of new septic tanks and treatment systems and work for groundwork contractors. That is despite the existence of a grant of 80%, up to a ceiling of €4,000 for those on incomes up to €50,000 and €2,00 for those with higher incomes.
In actual fact, it is having a negative effect as nobody wants to pay full price for upgrading their septic tank if there is the slightest chance of grant-aid should they be inspected.
And it a slight chance. In any one year, there is a one in 480 chance of being inspected, condemned and grant-aided. There are 479 chances of not being inspected.
This is distorting the refurbishment market. As much as some people want, and may badly need, to improve their system and possibly take advantage of two glorious summers to do so, they are restrained by the prospect of easy money and a waiver from planning permission.
One thing to realise is that this regime is not a moneymaking scheme for local authorities, far from it. In fact, it is a drain on their resources, which is not reimbursed from central funding, as far as I know.
Since the announcement that grant aid is available only after inspection, public opinion has gone from initial resistance to inspections to openly welcoming them in many cases.
Self-generation of inspections is not allowed, however, as county councils insist that they are strictly randomly generated.
New homeowners protected
While the inspection of existing septic tanks will be a slow process, a lot of progress has been made in raising the standards of sewage treatment for new-build houses.
Gone are the days when the septic tank was an afterthought, often cobbled together from a couple of well liners, followed by a perfunctory soakhole filled with whatever rubble was left over from the build.
Now, the treatment of sewage is the primary consideration. In other words, if you cannot percolate, you cannot begin to build. This is to the benefit of homeowners, who can be confident of getting systems proven to work properly.
The current regulations for single house on-site sewage disposal operates in three distinct stages:
Planning application/system design stage: This is largely dealt with in the Department of Environment’s code of practice 2009 (CoP2009). It ensures an effective treatment system is part of the initial planning of any house. Construction/certification stage: The septic tank/wastewater treatment system must comply with part H of the building regulations 2010. Furthermore, the installation and percolation area must be in accordance with the design granted at planning stage. Put plainly, this ensures that what is planned for is actually built. That protects the homeowner.Operation/maintenance stage: The Water Services Amendment Act 2012 sets out the responsibilities of an owner of an on-site sewage tank/system. All this and more can be found on the website of the Irish Water Treatment Association (IWTA) at www.IWTA.ie. The ITWA is dedicated to raising standards and ethics in effluent treatment, something which is critically important when you consider how long you expect a wastewater treatment system to serve a house, i.e. a lifetime.
You can change a cheap washing machine or dishwasher relatively easily when it fails. However, a bargain basement sewage treatment system would be costly to replace.
Tax relief for homeowners
Another welcome development is the Home Renovation Incentive Scheme, which offers tax relief to homeowners for home improvements. One of the areas covered under this broad scheme is repair or replacement of a septic tank, provided that it is the homeowner’s own house.
Take an example. A homeowner pays €3,500 plus VAT for a new treatment system and another €1,500 for the related groundwork, both VAT rated at 13.5% and both companies tax compliant.
The homeowner can reclaim €675 against future taxable income, calculated as €3,500 + €1,500 x 13.5%. While the saving is less than the grant available under the NIP grant scheme, it is available to everyone. It can be combined with work by other contractors on a house to a maximum of €30,000, giving a tax saving of over €4,000.
In addition, the homeowner takes control of when they wish to do the upgrade work, rather than waiting – or hoping – for an inspection.
I recently had the opportunity to look over the EPA’s national inspection plan for treatment of household waste. What we see from the tables in it is that:
The targets set are quite low, i.e. 1,002 inspections per year for the whole country. Quite honestly, this is unambitious, as it will take 480 years to complete the programme, assuming there is a moratorium on one-offs for the next half millennium.Secondly, while many counties have stepped up to the mark (including Limerick, Meath, Westmeath, Louth and Wicklow), some had yet to start by the report date (including Clare, Donegal, Leitrim and Offaly).So 423 inspections have been carried out. Of these, 224 tanks failed for one reason or another, equal to 53%. Reasons given included leakage, unlicenced discharge, ponding, roofwater getting into the tank, lack of desludging, risk to health and operational/maintenance issues.Of the 224 advisory notices issued, only 27 had been resolved and closed off. That’s an average of one septic tank per county whose issues were resolved. Ensuring the country’s septic tanks are working properly is going to be a slow, long drawn-out process.However, this may change as the councils get to grips with the inspection regime.My thoughts on this, and speaking purely from a commercial point of view, is that the new regime is having no positive effect on sales and installation of new septic tanks and treatment systems and work for groundwork contractors. That is despite the existence of a grant of 80%, up to a ceiling of €4,000 for those on incomes up to €50,000 and €2,00 for those with higher incomes.
In actual fact, it is having a negative effect as nobody wants to pay full price for upgrading their septic tank if there is the slightest chance of grant-aid should they be inspected.
And it a slight chance. In any one year, there is a one in 480 chance of being inspected, condemned and grant-aided. There are 479 chances of not being inspected.
This is distorting the refurbishment market. As much as some people want, and may badly need, to improve their system and possibly take advantage of two glorious summers to do so, they are restrained by the prospect of easy money and a waiver from planning permission.
One thing to realise is that this regime is not a moneymaking scheme for local authorities, far from it. In fact, it is a drain on their resources, which is not reimbursed from central funding, as far as I know.
Since the announcement that grant aid is available only after inspection, public opinion has gone from initial resistance to inspections to openly welcoming them in many cases.
Self-generation of inspections is not allowed, however, as county councils insist that they are strictly randomly generated.
New homeowners protected
While the inspection of existing septic tanks will be a slow process, a lot of progress has been made in raising the standards of sewage treatment for new-build houses.
Gone are the days when the septic tank was an afterthought, often cobbled together from a couple of well liners, followed by a perfunctory soakhole filled with whatever rubble was left over from the build.
Now, the treatment of sewage is the primary consideration. In other words, if you cannot percolate, you cannot begin to build. This is to the benefit of homeowners, who can be confident of getting systems proven to work properly.
The current regulations for single house on-site sewage disposal operates in three distinct stages:
Planning application/system design stage: This is largely dealt with in the Department of Environment’s code of practice 2009 (CoP2009). It ensures an effective treatment system is part of the initial planning of any house. Construction/certification stage: The septic tank/wastewater treatment system must comply with part H of the building regulations 2010. Furthermore, the installation and percolation area must be in accordance with the design granted at planning stage. Put plainly, this ensures that what is planned for is actually built. That protects the homeowner.Operation/maintenance stage: The Water Services Amendment Act 2012 sets out the responsibilities of an owner of an on-site sewage tank/system. All this and more can be found on the website of the Irish Water Treatment Association (IWTA) at www.IWTA.ie. The ITWA is dedicated to raising standards and ethics in effluent treatment, something which is critically important when you consider how long you expect a wastewater treatment system to serve a house, i.e. a lifetime.
You can change a cheap washing machine or dishwasher relatively easily when it fails. However, a bargain basement sewage treatment system would be costly to replace.
Tax relief for homeowners
Another welcome development is the Home Renovation Incentive Scheme, which offers tax relief to homeowners for home improvements. One of the areas covered under this broad scheme is repair or replacement of a septic tank, provided that it is the homeowner’s own house.
Take an example. A homeowner pays €3,500 plus VAT for a new treatment system and another €1,500 for the related groundwork, both VAT rated at 13.5% and both companies tax compliant.
The homeowner can reclaim €675 against future taxable income, calculated as €3,500 + €1,500 x 13.5%. While the saving is less than the grant available under the NIP grant scheme, it is available to everyone. It can be combined with work by other contractors on a house to a maximum of €30,000, giving a tax saving of over €4,000.
In addition, the homeowner takes control of when they wish to do the upgrade work, rather than waiting – or hoping – for an inspection.
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