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ALARM has been raised over the number of septic tanks in the Dungannon area after latest figures estimated that there are about 5000 systems operating in the district, one of the highest in the North.

It is believed that the actual total may be much higher as the figure, which was released this week by the Department of the Environment, only covers consented septic tanks.

The environment agency predicts that there may be as many as 15,000 unconsented septic tanks in Northern Ireland.

Fermanagh District Council had the highest total at 11,250, while North Down had the fewest at 340.

According to a leading environmental charity, the building boom in the local area has resulted in the proliferation of septic tanks which is leading to increased levels of pollution in local rivers and beautiful Lough Neagh above.

Friends of the Earth have revealed the shocking extent of septic tank pollution in County Tyrone.

A spokesperson for the organisation said: “Septic tanks which are poorly sited or badly maintained are spewing human sewage into loughs, rivers, streams and sheughs. Water pollution undermines the future of angling, watersports and tourism, threatening the viability of the rural economy.

“The effluent from the septic tanks in Co Tyrone will pose a very significant hazard to the heath of rivers and lakes.

“Lough Neagh, the biggest lake in these islands is also one of the most polluted. We do know that septic tank run-off is a major contributor to nutrient enrichment or eutrophication.

“This affects not just the animals and birds but the drinking water for large numbers of people in Northern Ireland. It is bizarre that sewage from septic tanks can easily enter Lough Neagh and yet we use Lough Neagh for drinking water.

“A septic tank and soakaway is a poor way to deal with wastewater from a house. After they are installed they are seldom if ever checked to see if they are working efficiently.

“Over time the soakaways seal up and effluent ends up in the nearest river or sheugh. The other problem is that detergents and cleaning products that are commonly used can kill the microbes within the septic tank that do most of the treatment.

“Homeowners should use environmentally friendly cleaning products and check that the septic tank and soakaway are working properly. More importantly government must introduce measures to ensure that all septic tanks are monitored and registered.”

According to the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside 60 per cent of septic tank discharges in the Lough Neagh area are reaching surface waters, including many rivers popular with anglers.

A total of 14 per cent of phosphate pollution reaching Lough Neagh, which is Northern Ireland’s largest source of drinking water, comes from septic tanks.

The report also found that many septic tanks are not regularly emptied of sludge, and the number being emptied regularly is likely to diminish when charges are introduced as part of the Water Reform process.

About 90 per cent of water bodies in Northern Ireland are at risk of not achieving the water quality standards required by the Water Framework Directive.

Septic tanks are used to treat domestic sewage from dispersed rural dwellings not connected to a main sewer.

The introduction to water of organic material such as human sewage reduces the amount of dissolved oxygen available for fish and other aquatic life. Also, nutrient enrichment stimulates the growth of algae,

Essentially a green ‘slime’ on the surface of the water which prevents light penetration. In the worst cases, water quality can be eroded to the point where a river is devoid of any living organism.

The deadly superbug NDM-1 has been found in human sewage and subsequently in drinking water in Delhi.

"Do not underestimate the superbug," Ganguly said here at the first forum on bacterial infections in the capital.

"Considering the hospital waste that goes into Delhi's sewage water, many studies have confirmed that the multi-drug resistant superbug is present in Delhi's environment," he said.

"It is the most deadliest bug roaming around," added Ganguly, chairman of the Immunology Foundation.

Reports from a British Medical journal had earlier alleged the presence of a bacteria with multi-drug resistant gene -- New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) -- that was resistant to almost all antibiotics.

Scientists feared the spread of the enzyme worldwide due to its high antibiotic resistance, to fight which nothing has been developed so far.

While the health ministry has not admitted on the impact of the NDM-1 on public health, it has been mulling over an antibiotic policy that will also address the issue of hospital-acquired infections (HAI) in the country.

Officials from the health ministry had said the naming of the enzyme after 'New Delhi' was an attempt to malign India as the superbug was found in many countries, not just India.

BIOROCK Says:

YET ANOTHER REASON TO STOP SPREADING HUMANURE ON AGRICULTURAL LAND IN THE UK!!!

Scottish Water was fined £7,500 at Dornoch Sheriff Court, on 3rd. October, for allowing untreated sewage to discharge to a Brora burn for a week, resulting in a number of fish deaths. The company pled guilty to failing to comply with a condition in their water use license in allowing the continued discharge of untreated sewage effluent into the Clyne Burn, causing the death of fish and producing a significant amount of fungus. The pollution incident was investigated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and a report submitted to the Procurator Fiscal. SEPA officers were alerted to the presence of dead fish in the Clyne Burn by a member of the public on 1 September 2010. On investigating they found 55 dead trout at the mouth of the burn and sewage fungus over a 1.4 kilometre stretch, starting at Scottish Water’s Victoria Road pumping station in Brora. Investigations revealed that there had been a problem at the pumping station when an airlock prevented waste, including sewage and distillery effluent, being pumped on. This caused the wet well, which is used as short term storage when there is a problem (such as pumps malfunctioning or an overload of water during a storm event) to fill up. As the airlock was not cleared the level in the wet well continued to rise until it went past the spill level and began to discharge to the Clyne Burn. Andrew Steel, SEPA’s investigating officer, said: “Telemetry data provided by Scottish Water showed that the wet-well level in the pumping station rose to the spill level on 25 August and continued to stay above that level until operators attended the site on a routine inspection visit on 1 September. This means that for around seven days all sewage from the sewerage network upstream of the pumping station was discharged to the Clyne burn. Once the airlock was cleared the pumping station returned to full function.” “This situation could have been prevented if Scottish Water staff had checked and interpreted telemetry trends, alerting them to the fact that the wet well levels continued to be at a high level while pumps were running, for far longer than would be expected following heavy rainfall.””