Buying house with septic tank boundary/planning issues

aho125

Have had a survey done on a property built in early 2000s - lots of issues, but will focus on the septic tank/waste water treatment ones here.

1. There are 2 Puraflo peat filter media units installed - the original planning permission is for a percolation area.
2. Puraflo unit is within 2m of the boundary, regulations require this to be a minimum of 3m from any boundary.
3. Effluent overflowing from the pump/sump indicating it is not operational.

And now my questions:

If the vendors didn't have planning for the Puraflo units, do they need to get retention for this? Any insights on how long this takes or if it is likely to be rejected?

The 2 metres distance from neighbour's site - we want to be able to sell this house to anyone down the line if we need to, including mortgage buyers (we ourselves are cash). Would this 2m issue stop a lender from giving a mortgage? What are the options - dig up the units and move them a metre?

No questions for the third issue, it needs fixing. If anyone has any additional insights on Puraflo peat filter units, I'd be keen to hear.

After 20 years, would new planning be necessary? I suspect enforcememt would be statute barred.

If the unit is not functioning, perhaps you might consider this an opportunity to replace with the correct unit in the correct position.

Im not sure about the type of unit you are referring to, but I know our tank needs to be emptied occasionally so I have to call a drain company, also the motor needed to be replaced on a 10 yr old tank, not that expensive, but it is really something the sellers should sort out.

Toots

We just replaced our entire septic system. What had been installed in the house wasn't what was on the planning permission but because our house was here since 2003, we didn't have to apply for planning.

You'd most likely have a percolation and a puraflo - ours is similar to puraflo and the way ours works is the waste goes into the tank, passes through the 3 chambers and then is pumped to the filter media unit. Once it passes through that, it flows out through percolation pipes.

I'm not sure what way your planning is vs what's installed, but I'd recommend getting a full inspection of the septic system to identify any issues and find out what the remediation costs would be, then go from there.

aho125

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121437134#Comment_121437134

Thanks for the insight Toots. Can you explain more about why you didn't have to apply for planning? Is there a number of years after which any issues with planning permissions are no longer an issue? This house is 2001.

Toots

We didn't have to apply because it was an existing dwelling and planning had already been granted for the septic system with an additional tertiary treatment system (the puraflo-type system). What had actually been put in was a bog standard tank and a length of corrugated pipe running out the back of it, so basically what we were putting in was what was supposed to have been done in the first place.

Your situation may differ, so that's why I'd recommend getting an inspection of the septic system. I'd be surprised if there was an issue with the planning dept re the puraflo, because the puraflo adds an extra step of treatment, so the water being discharged from them would be cleaner than what would be discharged straight from a tank through a percolation system. I'm sure each county council is different though. We had an engineer to plan and certify our job and they confirmed in our case we didn't heed to get planning permission.

aho125

Ok thank you very much for explaining, that makes perfect sense. We will definitely get the system inspected, it isn't fully functional at present, and will be good to know the full state of it.

Anyone got any experience/insight on a septic tank that is too close to the boundary (less than 3m)? Our primary concern is if we won't be able to sell to a mortgage buyer down the line. Our solicitor didn't know