MAIN FEATURE


drain TRADER


or not.Asmany of the septic tanks that exist are probably not known to anyone but those that own themand perhaps those that empty themfromtime to time, the local authoritymay simply not know where to look if a pollution incident occurswithout seriousmanpower needing to be applied and high costs being required. Furthermore, any discharge to ground by its very nature is concealed fromviewand it is therefore farmore difficult to establishwhat previouslywas installed or howthe dischargemeets current acceptable protocols. Itmust therefore be assumed that if the septic tank has been in place since before 2020 itwill have operated on a soakaway unless the property owner has some proof of design that shows the case to be otherwise. Under the newregulationswhat thismeans for the owner is that they must seek EnvironmentAgency (EA) approval and obtain a permit to retain the existing soakaway systemprovided itmeets current standards. If this not done or approval is not forthcoming the system must bemodified or replaced to ensure that the run-offflows into a designated purpose-built drainage field. If this too is not an option then thewhole systemneeds to be replacedwith a newsewage treatment plant (STP) thatwill effectively treat the run-offwhich can then be drained into a nearbywatercourse or drainage field. Depending on the circumstances of each individual site there can of course be both positives and negatives for any or all of these options. Eachmust be examined by an expert in the fieldwho should be able to establish the best andmost cost-effective option for the septic tank owner. Given the range of potential individual circumstances thatmay be encountered, compliancewith theGBRs can on occasion be very simple to achieve, however onmany occasions the solution that is required can be technically and practically challenging,whichmaywell alsomean costly. However, given the numbers of septic tanks are currently probably not knownwith any accuracy, to compare those that are actually compliant to those that are non-compliant is at present impossible. But somewithin the industry say thatwith no exaggeration the numbers of non-compliant systemsmay run into the hundreds of thousands if notmillions as previouslymentioned.


WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE THE SECTOR AND ITS REGULATIONS?


Whilst it appears that some local councils, parishes and other bodies have information in the public domain this is extremely limited.There has been some if limited press coverage but insufficient tomake any real impact itwould seem. There is the understanding across the industry that future property salesmay be themainway of enforcing the‘new’regulations as septic systemsmust be proven to be compliantwith existing regulations as part of the property conveyance process.However, itmaywell be that getting informed of this requirement by a solicitor during the sales process is likely to be the first timemost people become aware of these regulations and their obligations under them.The fact that they have to obey these regulationsmay be informative but the detail ofwhat is expected is not part of this process. Itmay alsomean that potential saleswill fall through until the existing property owner up-grades the septic systemor buyersmay insist on property price reductions to ensure they have themonies tomake the changes after anymove. Again there are some in the septic tank and small treatment plant sector that openly express an opinion that, in terms of timeframe to achieve substantial compliance and the numbers of properties that pass through the salesmarket, it could take asmuch as 20 years to get any substantive level of up-graded compliant septic systems in place, if


8 drain TRADER | July 2020 | www.draintraderltd.com


only because of the infrequent nature of sales of this type of property. Unless there is amajor fully funded drive of inspections to push the regulations through this is likely to remain the case.Given current funding restraints forGovernment this is not a likely outcome at present particularly in light of the extra cash flows that have been required andwill be required ofGovernment during and subsequent to the currentCovid-19 crisis. It is perhaps also politic to point out that the industry has also highlighted that evenwhere discharges to awatercourse have been found, an offence that is fineable, they are rarely prosecuted as the EnvironmentAgency (EA) does not really have the resources to undertake this task. One of themajor concerns fromthe practical side of the industry is that even if there is a change in policy and the regulations aremore rigorously enforced, although thismay be unlikely, there is the fact of lack of availability of experienced contractors to implement theworks whichwould be a huge problem.This is already highlighted by the fact thatmost competent contractors it appears currently have lead times on their order books of between 3 and 6months fromordering of works to their implementation.The impact of the currentCovid-19 crisiswill also very likely impact further on contractor availability and lead times, aswill any propertymarket recoverywhichmay in turn generate additionalwork.


SUMMARISINGTHE CURRENT SITUATION


TheGBRS regulations have been inforce in theUK since 2015with a supposed date for compliance for all systems being 1 January 2020. Any propertieswith septic systems sold throughout 2019 should have been checked for compliance. However, over the past five years the enforcement body, the E.A., has it would seemdone little to promote the regulatory change other than notice on itswebsitewith only limited information being presented in the public domain.Whether this is due to other pressures on other aspects of the EA’swork (managing flooding episodes that have been covered in the newsmedia over the past fewyears for example that could have diverted funding), austerity or other funding issues is not clear butmay be key reasons. With the various devolvedGovernments across theUK there is also the ‘problem’that regulations vary fromcountry to countrywith theUnion. This oftenmeans that contractorsworking in the fieldmust avail themselves of the finer points of the individual regulations if theywork across borders. In doing theseworks contractors are not currently required to report any systems they attend that are non-compliant.These contractors generally just try to informseptic tank owners of the newrules and theymust then take their own decisions. It has been purported that generally the feed-back fromthe owners thus informed is that there is little interest inwhat is required unless they are at the pointwhere they wish to sell the property orwhere they feel theymay be vulnerable to discovery and inspection thatmay lead to a fine being imposed if their systemdischarges to a ditch orwater course. Generally there is a viewin the industry that changes to existing systemswillmainly come through such property sales.This combined with a slowacceptance by others of the need tomake the changeswill only come as people become of aware of the regulations through third parties or direct‘marketing’by the relevant authorities, but this needs the knowledge ofwho tomarket to.As there is as previously mentioned no specific septic tank owner’s database this is not likely to happen.There is also not immediate indication that such a database is likely to be forthcoming anytime soon as itwould appear thatwhere the information does exist it is held by those not responsible for


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