THE BODY responsible for collecting registrations for mandatory inspections of septic tanks says over 8,000 households have so far registered.

8,169 properties had registered for the inspections, which are required under laws introduced in February, as of 9am this morning.

A spokeswoman for the Local Government Management Agency said the number included those who had registered for the inspections online, at protectourwater.ie, and those who had mailed a registration directly to the agency’s offices.

The number does not include the number of households which had registered for their inspections in their local council offices in the last couple of days, whose applications may not yet have been processed.

The 8,169 figure represents about 1.65 per cent of the total number of households which have septic tanks or some other form of on-site water treatment system.

Last year’s census showed there were just under half a million homes which had their own waste treatment systems.

Households which register for the mandatory inspection within three months of registrations opening are entitled to a discounted fee of €5, compared to a usual cost of €50 which will kick in after September 28.

The introduction of the legislation to enforce the inspections was marked by controversy, with opposition parties disputing government claims that the laws needed to be enacted by mid-February in order to avoid EU fines.

Despite this, the Department of the Environment confirmed in April that the registrations had been delayed due to unforeseen circumstances – with registration finally opening on June 26.

Read: Registration for septic tank inspections begins