Almost half of septic tanks in Donegal failed inspections last year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Across the county, 44% of the treatment systems failed inspections with 83% of them fixed by the end of 2022.
The EPA report on Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems found half of septic tanks in Ireland failed inspections last year, with 20 per cent of those posing a risk to human health and the environment.
Structural defects and lack of maintenance were the most common reasons for failure.
Households are notified when they fail the inspection, advised that they must be fixed, and told of repair grants of up to €5,000 available in certain circumstances.
The EPA said local authorities need to increase enforcement where it is warranted so that environmental and public health are protected.
It is particularly concerned that the number of notified septic tank failures left unfixed by householders for more than two years has increased five-fold since 2016.
By the end of last year, 550 notified septic tank failures had been open for over two years.
This is five times more than in 2016, with half of these involving sewage surfacing in gardens and in many cases discharging illegally to ditches and streams.
The EPA said that enforcement of advisory notices by local authorities is inconsistent around the country.
The lowest rates of “failures fixed” are in counties Roscommon, Waterford, Leitrim, and Tipperary.
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