DEAR SIR: I write in relation to septic tanks serving single houses in rural areas. I live in Co Leitrim, where we have an existing code of practice interpreted by planners in far too rigid a manner and a manner that lacks reality and imagination.

An example is the current “zero emissions from septic tanks pilot scheme”, which can cost participants about €55,000 with no guarantee that it will work.

Also, Ireland seems to interpret EU directives in too rigid a manner. Between them both, they are causing catastrophic cutbacks in the numbers of successful planning applications in our rural areas.

Ireland needs people living in the country areas and a viable, vibrant community is needed in each area.

Planning refusals are becoming a stick with which to beat our young people out of their native rural areas and into towns.

I think the idea of a septic tank is a good one. The basic idea is that waste is contained inside the tank and is very much broken down by bacteria.

I favour the SR6 system of dispersal and filtration. If the local topsoil is not permeable enough, the filtration and absorption can be improved by a series of stone-filled soak-pits and slightly raised areas of sand and gravel through which the waste effluents must seep.

There is a claim that our sticky gley soils are too impermeable.

This does not take into account that soil permeability may vary greatly from field to field and even within a field. As a farmer, I know this for a fact because I’ve dug a lot of shores in my time.

The site for each proposed home is generally on top of a gently sloping hill. Effluents move away from the house and are filtered by the SR6 system.

I think septic tanks should be cleaned out and reseeded with bacteria every two to three years.

Irish Water

Currently, there is no provision for that sludge to be accepted and processed in the major wastewater Irish Water facility at Carrick-on-Shannon, which is only working at half capacity and, they claim, is not able to accept septic tank wastes brought there by slurry tankers.

The biggest fly in the ointment I see is that detergents and bleaches are being allowed into septic tanks.

This has the effect of killing the bacteria and causing the sands and gravels to set and become less permeable.

Read more

Improving sewage treatment and existing tanks

Farmer Writes: feeling flush after clearing a blocked drain