Septic tanks and boreholes - Fossas e Furos

[biffa]

Please note that the registration of fossa and boreholes has been extended (again) to 15 December 2010

Foi aprovado pelo Conselho de Ministros do dia 6 de Maio (ver comunicado n.º 12) a prorrogação do prazo de regularização dos títulos de utilização de recursos hídricos até 15 de Dezembro de 2010.

O pedido de título é necessário para os casos em que haja utilizações dos recursos hídricos, que não estejam legalizadas, sejam elas poços, noras, furos, minas, charcas, barragens, açudes ou descargas de águas residuais (por exemplo, fossas).

Só através daquela declaração os serviços da Administração da Região Hidrográfica (ARH) do Algarve poderão atribuir as concessões, licenças e autorizações necessárias para cada tipo de utilização.

Este registo permite também conhecer os consumos e ocupações, sendo fundamental para a gestão dos recursos hídricos e para acautelar conflitos de uso.

A utilização dos recursos hídricos sem o devido licenciamento constitui contra - ordenação muito grave com penalizações significativas, pelo que essas situações devem ser regularizadas, podendo ser utilizados para esse efeito os serviços on line ou os formulários disponibilizados no site da ARH, bem como recorrer às Juntas de Freguesia e Associações de Agricultores da região que se associaram a este processo.

Em caso de dúvidas, os utilizadores devem contactar a ARH do Algarve, que disponibiliza um serviço de atendimento com o seguinte horário de funcionamento:

Manhã - 9.30h às 13.00h
Tarde - 14.00h às 17.00h

[martin]

phew ..does that mean we can now use the toilet?

[traveler]

Heh. Now I can stop stressing for another 6 months. I have read so many contradictory things on this law.

[widge]

Does anybody know when we might get hooked up to the new sewerage treatment plant at Boavista?

[biffa]

Martin - is your reluctance to use the toilet part of the general downturn of tourism in your area ?

[Jaylay]

We at Boavista have been connected for nearly a year, you will soon know when you can connect when you get a bill from the camera telling you you have to pay for the drainage works in your area.

[Jaylay]

Forgot to say then you have to pay for the work it takes to get you connected, and then there are rumours there is another bill to come for something else and of course after that there is an extra bit to pay on your waterbill for sewerage

[jonc]

We have just received notification of this extension.

We are being advised that we should wait, because the laws may change again prior to the deadline. Personally, I would rather get the submission completed and out of the way.

Does anyone have any advise?

Jonathan

[steve]

Connection to the mains drains comes at quite a cost. The infrastructure came as part of our development so I did not have to pay for that but I was unpleasantly surprised to receive a bill from the Camara for about €1100 (from memory) for taxes applicable to being connected. You also pick up a drainage charge which is based on water consumption and which can equal about 50% of the charge for the water. At my old house the septic tank never needed any attention over 19 years and was in effect free.

[martin]

Dear Biffa

yes its quite a relief I can tell you, anyway so as not to put our holidaymakers off we have as a community being doing a "collection" and thought those nice new drains in the middle of cvo could do with a test

do you think anyone would mind

martin

now I know what means when they say cross your legs and hope to die

[biffa]

We have just received notification of this extension.

We are being advised that we should wait, because the laws may change again prior to the deadline. Personally, I would rather get the submission completed and out of the way.

Does anyone have any advise?

Jonathan

I would say get it done Jonc. Better safe than sorry. What we hear is once the authority has "mapped" all those nasty septic tanks that discharge into the soil they will then contact all the registrants and tell them to change to an "estanque" (closed tank). If there is mains drainage available then you are obliged to connect up. Some boreholes and/or wells fall outside an area which needs regisrtering so best check the map on http://licenciamentos.mapas.arhalgarve.pt/

[ceh]

I agree with biffa - when I filled in the forms back in March the ARH office was struggling with the sheer numbers of people wanting to apply. I had to book a date to hand the sample in and when I handed the water samples in a month ago, they seemed overwhelmed by applicants. I've not yet heard anything back about the licence.

My understanding is that this is a requirement of European directives - in this country boreholes, wells etc are tested but not licenced.

[Polli62]

One or two folks have been saying on other expat forums that they applied for registration of a fossa and because it was only for 4 people they were told they didn't need to apply, (saying under 10 people was not applicable) which seems strange to me . We registered last September at ARH in Faro and the question of the number of people under 10 wasn't mentioned, we still had to put the application in regardless of numbers. Our fossa is connected to the main sewer via a macerator pump, but there is still some of the water/sewerage in the fossa drains into the land so we thought it was best to register. The cost of connection to main sewer which was 45 metres away was €2500 6 yrs ago.

[EMM]

On our last visit we had two reg letters from the Camara informing us that we had to apply to be connected ( existing conections in place ) and that the permit will cost us E450 which will be added to our water bill once the process has gone through.
Since last may numerous neighbours have had the work done . For some it was not an easy ( or cheap )process with drive ways and gardens taken up for the pipes etc.
One we see occaisionally connects a hose to his fossa and drains it into the sewer.

[carolyn]

We know that today is the last day to register fossas, bore holes etc.
We have a villa on Vale de Milho with a fossa (we are told) which - as far as we are aware - we do not use it.
Having looked at the map on the link shown on biffas post, it shows that VDM is not in the area that requires registration - unless more than 10 people are using the fossa - as indicated on another page on the ARH website:

http://www.arhalgarve.pt/site/index.php ... ay&ceid=95

However reading on this forum and everywhere else, few people seem to refer to that map, or the ARH website - though they are the people requiring registration.

There was a similar indication in the Algarve Resident
http://www.algarveresident.com/story.asp?XID=37356)

We realise it is late in the day but wonder if anyone can advise?