Open AccessAssessment of the impact of traditional septic tank soakaway systems on water quality in Ireland
Author(s) -
Mary E. Keegan,
Kate Kilroy,
Daniel J. Nolan,
Donata Dubber,
Paul Johnston,
Bruce Misstear,
Vincent O'Flaherty,
Maria Barrett,
Laurence Gill
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
water science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.406
H-Index - 137
eISSN - 1996-9732
pISSN - 0273-1223
DOI - 10.2166/wst.2014.227
Subject(s) - subsoil , groundwater , environmental science , water quality , effluent , pollutant , surface water , septic tank , wastewater , environmental engineering , contamination , hydrology (agriculture) , geology , soil science , geotechnical engineering , soil water , ecology , biology
One of the key threats to groundwater and surface water quality in Ireland is the impact of poorly designed, constructed or maintained on-site wastewater treatment systems. An extensive study was carried out to quantify the impact of existing sites on water quality. Six existing sites, consisting of a traditional septic tank and soakaway system, located in various ranges of subsoil permeabilities were identified and monitored to determine how well they function under varying subsoil and weather conditions. The preliminary results of the chemical and microbiological pollutant attenuation in the subsoil of the systems have been assessed and treatment performance evaluated, as well as impact on local surface water and groundwater quality. The source of any faecal contamination detected in groundwater, nearby surface water and effluent samples was confirmed by microbial source tracking. From this, it can be seen that the transport and treatment of percolate vary greatly depending on the permeability and composition of the subsoil.