Septic Tank Problems.

dsatjccf

Registered User
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Hi all, looking for some advice and help!

I am currently unemployed and live in a council house; under the terms of my tenancy I am responsible for the Septic Tank.

Since I moved into the house a few years back I have had nothing but trouble with the septic tank, it is one of these percolation units.

The issues I have had range from the thing not being wired up to the mains electric and my percolation area becoming flooded due to my back garden being lower than the road behind my house and rainwater pouring into the percolation area. Not to mention that the builder of the house connected the main roof drains to the ground drains so all rainwater from the roof flows into the tank.

I have tried raising this with the local authority suggesting that it is their responsibility because it was never handed over to me in a good state, but I have been banging my head against a wall.

The latest issue I now have is that after having the tank emptied a few weeks ago the tank has now filled with water from all the recent rain and isn’t working as it should be taking the water from the main tank and percolating it into the garden. I have an aeration pump alarm sounding but feel it may be more issues than just that.

I have contacted a company who repair septic tanks and they have given me a price of €560 to come out and replace the failed pump, but any other issues will be extra.

As stated I am unemployed and do not have anything like €560 spare not to mention it will most likely cost more when the guy comes out to fix the tank.

I have looked at the Citizensinformationwebsite.ie to see if there are any grants to help get my tank fixed, it states on there that my tank must be registered before a certain date to obtain grants. As this property belongs to the council are they responsible for the registration of the tank?

I also note that the website also claims that the owner of the tank must ensure the tank is in good working order and if not they should put the tank into good working order.

This is the part I am unsure about, the law of the land states the owner should ensure the tank is working. In my case the local authority are the owners but they want to hold me to the tenancy agreement that states I am responsible, who is correct?

I’m really stuck to know what to do, I have raw sewage pouring into the garden, it just cost me €250 to have the tank emptied and now I have to find at least €560 and possibly more.

Can anyone advise me on what to do and if I have a case to demand the council fix the tank as they are the owners and in breech of the new rules?

Thanks.
 
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