Leitrim Councillor says there is insufficient data in latest report concerning septic tank inspections

A Leitrim Councillor says there is no need to hit the panic button just yet in relation to the possible overflow of sewage from septic tanks entering into water supplies in the county. Cllr James Gilmartin was responding to the contents of an EPA report that claims that Leitrim is one of the Counties with the highest failure rates when it comes Septic Tank inspections. The big local headline from the report is that 75 per cent of the tanks inspected across Leitrim failed. In comparison he failure rate in Sligo stood at 54 per cent while in Donegal it was 51 per cent.   Local Authorities targeted their inspections near rivers and household drinking water wells which are most at risk of contamination by faulty septic tanks. On closer examination however the report states that there were just four inspections carried out in Leitrim during 2024. There were 77 in Donegal and 13 in Sligo. The number of inspections that the three Local Authorities in this region were mandated to carry out in 2024 was 7 in Sligo, 107 in Donegal and 16 in Leitrim. The report also provides an update of the number of systems that failed inspections between 2013 and 2024.  There were 150 in Sligo 399 in Donegal and 156 in Leitrim. When it came to the percentages of these that were completed by the end of last year Sligo returned a figure of 95 per cent, Donegal 82 per cent and Leitrim 76 per cent. The number of failures nationwide will be disappointing news for the government who have allocated funding for those wishing to upgrade septic tanks. Reflecting on the findings of the report Cllr Gilmartin says the small amount of inspections carried out in Leitrim last year cannot guarantee the level of compliance in the county when it comes to compliance with the criteria surrounding septic tanks