Letters being circulated by a waste disposal company claiming that Donegal County Council is inspecting septic tanks have been dismissed as scaremongering.
The letters have been delivered to hundreds of homes across the county as part of a general mailshot.
The letter asks householders ‘Will your septic tank pass an inspection?’
Community activist Brian Carr from Glenties has slammed the move.
He said “I have had a few calls from people all worried about this letter arriving to their door.
“Even this morning I had a call from someone who is not on social media and didn’t know what to do and was very worried at another expense on them.
“DONEGAL COUNTY COUNCIL AT THIS TIME ARE NOT INSPECTING TANKS. This is an individual company using this tag line as a scaremongering tactic.”
A council spokesperson has confirmed to Donegal Daily that their waste water programme is suspended and they are NOT inspecting septic tanks.
“Donegal County Council have become aware that a private company has issued a mail shot using envelopes with the message “Donegal County Council are now inspecting Septic Tanks” on the front as a method of promoting sales of their product.
“The Council would like to clarify that its domestic wastewater treatment system inspection programme is currently suspended due to COVID-19 restrictions. The aim of the Council programme is to protect human health and water quality from the risks posed by domestic waste water treatment systems.
“If your home is selected to have its domestic wastewater treatment system inspected, a qualified inspector employed by the Council, will visit the premises and ideally meet with the homeowner in person at least 10 days in advance of the actual inspection.
“The inspector will confirm their identity, provide written notification of the inspection and advice leaflets to inform the homeowner of what to expect from the inspection and how best to prepare for it.”
Advice on how to manage domestic wastewater treatment system in all their formats, septic tanks, secondary and tertiary treatments systems, percolation areas, sand or soil polishing filters, integrated constructed wetlands etc, may be found on the EPA website at https://www.epa.ie/water/wastewater/ and on Donegal Co. Council’s website at http://www.donegalcoco.ie/services/environment/pollutioncontrol/water%20pollution/septic%20tank%20registration/”
