Sewage Treatment Plant - Transfer to Irish Water

Isgregalive

We live in a small development of 37 houses in Meath that was build in 2008, that has been using a private sewage treatment plant which is part of an adjacent warehouse and industrial site. The original developers were the owners of the warehousing but went bankrupt in 2010.
The new owners of the warehousing have notified the management company that use of the treatment plant will no longer be permitted as the maintenance costs are seemingly astronomical.
We are the only estate in our area that isn't part of the national network and Irish Water have no interest in taking over the plant.

Does anyone have any experience in transferring the management of the treatment plant from private hands to Irish Water?

When we purchased the house, I don't think anyone ever questioned the arrangements but now we're all facing substantial fees to maintain and repair the plant.

They may not be able to dispose of their ownership and responsibility so easily.

The original planning documents and any conditions for everything should clarify things

Joe Wine

@Isgregalive Hi, we are going through a similar situation. Just wondering what status ye are at now? Did ye manage to get Irish water on board?

Heartbreak Hank

First port of call is the planning permission. There will, I would imagine, be a condition along the lines of "the developer shall install a temporary wastewater treatment plant to be operated until the <insert town> wastewater treatment plant is upgraded.

Often these package plants were "temporary" measures until the county council (at the time - Irish Water post 2014) increased capacity / built a treatment plant / conveyance network to a treatment plant with capacity for the development. If the treatment / sewer / pumping capacity hasn't been increased / developed, then the original reason the development wasn't connected is still there so the plant needs to stay. If the municipal plant has been upgraded then the "developer" needs to comply with the planning condition and make the connection. I would not be surprised that Irish Water don't want to take over the treatment plant but I would be equally surprised if they have an issue with accepting flows from the development (once certain requirements are met).

Without being an expert in this, the current owner is subject to the planning conditions just as the original developer was. Similar to if you bought a house with a septic tank that was over flowing you couldn't just say "I didn't get the planning so it's not my problem"

I would place a call to Irish Water customer care and explain the issue. That will create a "ticket" and until the issue is resolved there will be an outstanding ticket against someone's name and no one wants to be standing up when the music stops.

I would also contact Meath Co. Co. planning enforcement. It looks to me like there will potentially be a breach of planning. If a day comes where the treatment plant is "unplugged" there will be an environmental issue and that will get peoples' attention quite quickly.

Is the owner of the industrial unit looking to keep running the treatment but only for the unit itself?