A guide to septic tanks created by the Dee Catchment Partnership has been so popular that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has funded the national distribution of the guide.

From 1 April 2006, significant changes to regulations controlling sewage discharges mean that all septic tanks and sewage discharges from domestic properties must be registered with SEPA.

The Big Green Septic Tank Guide explains why regular maintenance is essential to keep septic tanks system safe and working properly and offers tips to keep septic tanks in working order, reducing the number of times they have to be emptied, protecting the environment and saving householders money!

“If your property is not served by a public sewerage system, then your sewage and waste water is likely to be treated by a septic tank or other form of treatment system”, explains Dr Susan Cooksley, Project Officer with the Dee Catchment Partnership. “This system retains sewage solids and usually discharges treated liquid effluent to a soakaway where it is further treated by the soil. Effluent can contain chemical residues from household cleaning products which are a major pollutant of watercourses or if systems are not maintained properly, the effluent may also contain dangerous levels of harmful bacteria from the faeces in the tank.”

The Dee Catchment Partnership aims to ensure that activities in the River Dee Catchment area do not have a negative impact on the quality of the water in the river. The high quality of the water in the River Dee gives it great value as a habitat for wildlife, for drinking water, as a recreational environment, as a basis for tourism and salmon fishing, and as a central asset underpinning much of the rural economy.

Dr Cooksley continues, “Although the River Dee is regarded as one of the least contaminated of the larger Scottish rivers, contaminants entering the catchment’s water courses from small, separate sources have a major collective impact. In particular, sewage effluent is a major pollutant”.

A copy of the Septic Tank Guide can be downloaded from: www.theriverdee.org

More information on changes to the control of small private sewage discharges can be found on the SEPA website.