More than half of household septic tanks have failed their first inspection.
That's according to the Environmental Protection Agency which has released an interim review of the scheme which began last July.
Testing of household septic tanks began last year under European waste regulations.
Up to the end of February, 423 tanks had been checked - and 53 per cent had failed.
The highest rate of problems was reported in county Roscommon where 78 point 9 per cent of tanks didn't pass.
One of the best performers was county Westmeath, with more than 86 per cent making the grade there.
The EPA says many failures coud be avoided by people taking simple steps to maintain their water treatment systems, and advice is available on their website - it's epa-dot-ie.
Local authorities are supposed to have inspected 1000 tanks by July this year, and by the end of february, workers in 5 counties had already completed their allocated quota of inspections for the 12 month period.
