New Septic Tank Regulations

As of January 1st, regulations on septic tanks have been changed. From now on, homeowners are unable to sell their house if their septic tank is not compliant.

Under the General Binding Rules, the law has been changed to make owners of septic tanks aware that they must replace or upgrade their drainage as of the new year or whenever the homeowner decides to sell their property, if they own a septic tank that will discharge directly into surface water or a watercourse, e.g. a ditch, stream, canal or river.

The new septic tank regulations do not affect everyone who owns a tank that discharges to a watercourse. The tank will be operating within the law if the tank has a drainage field that works correctly, away from a watercourse.

All sewage treatment plants with full certification are exempt from the new septic tank regulations.

All septic tanks that discharge into surface water or watercourses must either have the discharge into the watercourse diverted, or stopped, or be replaced by a sewage treatment plant with full BS EN 12566-3 Certification.

These rules have been in place since June 2015 however it appears that there has been little awareness of the change and now that the new year is upon us, homeowners are being directed to ensure that their septic tank is compliant.

In the October 2019 edition of Homebuilding & Renovating by Dave Vincent, it was reported by the commercial director for Kingspan Klargester that the market response to the change is “one of confusion and frustration on the part of septic tank owners that they haven’t been warned about the impending changes.”

If you want help understanding whether you need to act or not, you can contact Drain Technology on 01865 587086 or email us via [email protected].