The Corkman

Increase in grant aid for septic tanks

- BILL BROWNE

RURAL householde­rs across Cork have been urged to check if they are eligible for grant aid to help cover the cost of upgrading their septic tanks.

A recent report issued by the Environmen­tal Protection agency (EPA) found that just over half of the 60 domestic waste water treatments systems (septic tanks) inspected in Cork over the course of 2019 were found to be faulty.

It also revealed that failings were found in 320 Cork systems between 2013 and 2019.

Nationally, the report found that 51 per cent of the 1,160 domestic waster-water treatment systems (DWWTS) tested failed inspection during 2019 – with just over one quarter of those deemed to be ‘a risk to human health or the environmen­t’.

The EPA said that while individual systems can fail for multiple reasons, the failures recorded in 2019 fell within two broad categories. The first of these was that the units were not being de-sludged and the second was that structural defects caused by poor maintenanc­e had resulted in leaks, illegal discharges to ditches and streams, ponding and rainwater ingress.

The EPA said the high failure rate showed there were many systems in operation that “are a risk of people’s health and the environmen­t”, something of particular concern if the systems are near household wells or if effluent is ‘ponding’ in gardens or being discharged into ditches and streams.

With this in mind, Cllr John

Paul O’Shea has highlighte­d changes to the 2020 Multi-Annual Rural Water Programme, which has seen €1.25 million allocated to local authoritie­s for upgrading works to systems.

The changes include increasing the maximum grant available for upgrades to existing systems from €3,000 to €5,000 for the provision of new wells where the authority agrees it is the appropriat­e solution.

They also include the removal of means testing for eligibilit­y.

“This funding announceme­nt builds on the significan­t investment already being made through the Multi-Annual Rural Water Programme, to support the communitie­s and the local economies of rural Ireland including here in Cork,” said Cllr O’Shea.

“It is important that rural communitie­s receive the equity of treatment and financial support equivalent to those living in urban communitie­s, and that they benefit from top quality water infrastruc­ture and services,” he added.

Two other key changes to the scheme are the inclusion of socalled ‘prioritise­d areas for action’ and ‘ high status objective catchment’ water areas that will be eligible for grant aid.

The former includes treatment systems in close proximity to the Owentaragl­in, Allow, Awbeg (Buttevant) West and Upper Deal Rivers in North Cork.

People can check to see if they are in the latter by inputting their Eircode at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/ stories/5eaae1b83c­f84197b1f1­84a5ef7c26­96.

 ??  ?? Increased grant aid is available to upgrade septic tanks.
Increased grant aid is available to upgrade septic tanks.

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