Mr. Maurice Cremin:

Traditionally, the Irish way of dealing with septic tanks has been to suck up the entire contents of the tank to be treated in one way or another. On the Continent, this work is increasingly done by removing the solids from the septic tank. The issue is the sludge rather than the liquid. The best place for that liquid is to stay in the septic tank, with the solids being removed periodically. The technology that is available on the Continent is quite advanced. Householders there can avail of the services of a contractor who sets up on site for approximately an hour, desludges the septic tank and takes away a small volume of material. The volume in question might be half a tonne if the septic tank is regularly maintained. It would be a question of taking away half a tonne of material, as opposed to the four tonnes of material that would be taken away if the entire thing were removed. If we were to adopt this model, a far smaller volume of sludge would need to be treated.