Pulse Survey now running Five years on, we're measuring the lasting impact of COVID-19 on our lives in our latest short Pulse Survey. CSO Pulse Surveys are anonymous and open to all. #CSOTakePart
The number of registered domestic waste water treatment systems in Ireland increased by 1.1% to 492,359 in 2023 (See Table 1).
In 2023, Cork had the highest number of registered domestic waste water treatment systems at 56,281 (11%) (See Table 1).
The seven counties of Cork, Galway, Kerry, Donegal, Mayo, Tipperary, and Wexford accounted for just over half of all registrations in 2023 (See Table 1).
There was a 4% decrease in the number of new registrations in 2023 compared with 2022 (See Table 2).
Household owners accounted for 97% of all registered waste water treatment systems in 2023 (See Table 3).
New registrations may include an element of late registrations.
Figure 1 shows total and new registrations of domestic waste water treatment systems for 2019-2023.
Table 1 presents total registrations of domestic waste water treatment systems by county for 2019-2023.
Figure 2 shows the proportion of total registrations by county in 2023.
| X-axis label | Total Registrations | New Registrations |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 471588 | 4350 |
| 2020 | 475742 | 4157 |
| 2021 | 481220 | 5481 |
| 2022 | 486904 | 5675 |
| 2023 | 492359 | 5457 |
Table 2 presents new registrations of domestic waste water treatment systems by county for 2019-2023. In 2023, there were 5,457 new systems registered with Cork accounting for the highest number at 648.
Table 3 presents total registrations of domestic waste water treatment systems by type of owner in 2023. Households owned 477,823 or 97% of total systems.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (22 May 2024) released Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems 2023.
Linh Nolan, Statistician in the Environment Division of the CSO, noted that: "This release provides insight on the registration of domestic water treatment systems in Ireland, such as septic tanks, which collect, treat, and discharge waste water from households that are not connected to public sewer systems. We can see that the number of registered domestic waste water treatment systems rose by 1.1% in 2023 to 492,359 (See Figure 1 and Table 1). The number of registrations increased in every local authority in 2023, with Leitrim and Wexford recording the highest annual increase of approximately 2% each.
In 2023, with 56,281 registered domestic waste water treatment systems, Cork had the highest proportion of systems at 11% followed by Galway (9%) and Kerry (7%). Donegal, Mayo, and Tipperary had the next highest proportion of registrations at 6% each, followed by Wexford at 5%. These seven counties accounted for just over half of all individual waste water treatment systems (See Table 1 and Figure 2).
There were 5,457 new systems registered in 2023 which was a 4% decrease compared with 2022. Cork also accounted for the highest proportion of new registrations in 2023 at 12%, followed by Galway (9%), Wexford and Donegal (7% each) (See Table 2).
Household owners accounted for 97% of all registered waste water treatment systems in 2023. Public authorities and other non-domestic owners accounted for 1.5% each. In Longford, public authorities accounted for 4% of all owners in 2023, compared with Kildare where they accounted for 0.1% (See Table 3)."