Septic tanks installed on or after 1 June 1992 must comply with part H of the national building regulations. The relevant technical guidance document, TGD, H — Drainage and Waste Water Disposal — calls up the following standards: septic tanks serving single houses — Irish standard recommendations SR6 of 1991 for domestic effluent treatment and disposal from single dwellings, issued by the National Standards Authority of Ireland, NSAI; and septic tanks serving groups of houses — British standard BS 6297: 1983, incorporating amendment No. 1 of 1990, a code of practice for the design and installation of small sewage treatment works, issued by the British Standards Institution, BSI.
The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, is developing a revised manual on wastewater treatment systems serving single houses. It is understood that the EPA manual will supersede SR6: 1991, which will be withdrawn by the NSAI. My Department plans to amend TGD-H to call up the EPA manual as soon as it is published.
Primary responsibility for protecting water against pollution caused by discharges from a septic tank rests with the owner and operator of a septic tank. The Water Services Bill will impose a duty of care on occupiers-owners of premises to ensure that septic tanks are kept so as not to cause nuisance or risk to human health or the environment.
Under the Local Government (Water) Pollution Acts, it is an offence for a person to cause or permit polluting matter to enter waters directly or indirectly. Enforcement of this legislation is a matter for the relevant local authority.
