Guidance for householders who need to register a sewage discharge

The Following information is derived from the Environment Agency Website.

Registering a discharge of sewage effluent from a septic tank or sewage treatment plant is an easy process.

The guidance below will show you how to register your sewage tank and what it means for you.

• Registration is free.  • You only need to register once • Discharges to rivers or streams must be registered immediately. • Those to ground may be registered at any time before 1 January 2012.

This will be checked by the Environmental Agency when you register.

The registration application is free.

Please take note of the following information before registering for a sewage discharge:

Most households with a sewage effluent discharge from a septic tank or sewage treatment plant can register.  In some cases the Environmental Agency will not accept a registration if it is close to a nature conservation area or a protected water source.

Do you already have and hold a consent to discharge permit.

If you have previously been issued with a ‘Consent to Discharge’ or Environmental Permit for sewage effluent in the last 10-20 years then there is no need to register for one again.

If the sewage discharge qualifies for exempt status then it will have automatically become exempt and we will place the details on the register;

If the sewage discharge does not qualify for exempt status then the Consent has become an Environmental Permit and the conditions are identical to those on the Consent (we do not issue a new permit but your Consent will now be called an Environmental Permit).

If you have an Environmental Permit for a discharge issued since 6 April 2010 then you do not need to register.

All we ask is that you ensure that sewage treatment plant is operated and maintained properly.

What type of sewage system do you have?

You can have a septic tank, sewage treatment plant or a cesspool to process the sewage from your house. Cesspools do not need to be registered with us as they are sealed tanks, have no discharge and pose no threat to the environment. Cesspools usually need to be emptied every few weeks.

Septic Tanks

A septic tank is a holding tank that is buried in the ground.  It has an inlet pipe which allows the sewage from the house to enter into the septic tank.  The septic tank also has an outlet pipe.

The septic tank allows solid matter to settle to the bottom of the septic tank and liquids to flow out. The outflow from the septic tank usually requires further treatment and this is achieved by soaking it away into the ground, where bacteria in the soil completes the sewage treatment process.

Regular maintenance for a septic tank is the removal of solid matter (sludge) from the bottom of the tank. This process is known as desludging and is usually required once every year.

If you have a septic tank that discharges directly to surface water, you will not be able to register an exemption.

You will need to apply for a permit to allow any further discharge.  To receive this permit you will need to upgrade to a sewage treatment plant, or have a septic tank conversion unit installed.

12 months is the maximum time allowed to complete an upgrade.

Sewage Treatment Plants

Often called sewage package plants, these sewage treatment plants are mini sewage works and produce much cleaner effluent than septic tanks.

For this reason the sewage effluent from sewage package treatment plants can normally be discharged to rivers or streams.  Package sewage treatment plants process the sewage much better than septic tanks and require a source of power for them to function properly as well as regular maintenance. They also accumulate sludge that is settled out from the sewage and the sewage treatment plant requires desludging once every year.

The size of your sewage system

If you want to register the discharge as an exemption, there is a restriction on the amount of sewage effluent that can be discharged from the septic tank or treatment plant.

If the discharge is being made to a surface water then it must not be more than 5 cubic metres per day which is 5000 litres per day. It must also first be treated by a sewage treatment plant. If the discharge is being made to ground then it must not be more than 2 cubic metres per day which is 2000 litres per day.

You need to know what your sewage discharge is, and as to whether it is within the permitted maximum daily volume.

Volumes are shown in table 1 below for sewage discharges from a single domestic property. If you are making a discharge from properties other than a single domestic property, such as a group of houses, a guest house or a very large house, the volume should be determined using the Industry code of practice known as ‘Flows and Loads ’, which is available from British Water at: www.britishwater.co.uk

Is the sewage discharge is ‘new’ or ‘existing’

If the sewage discharge was already being made before 6 April 2010 it is an existing sewage discharge. If the sewage discharge was first made on or after 6 April 2010 then it is a new sewage discharge. New sewage systems must be designed, constructed and installed in accordance with current British Standards. Both new and existing eligible sewage discharges must be registered.

If you upgrade or replace your sewage treatment system but make the sewage discharge to the same place as a previous one that was already being made before 6 April 2010, then we still consider this to be an existing sewage discharge. Upgraded or new equipment should meet current British Standards.

Where is the location of the sewage discharge?

We need to know whether the sewage discharge is being made into a river or a stream.  Is the sewage discharge going to ground, or through the ground via a soakaway drainage field or infiltration system, sometimes called a soakaway. We also need the postal address, including post code and a national grid reference of the location where the sewage discharge is being made. If you are going to apply via a form rather than online, we may also require a map.

Sometimes the sewage treatment plant discharge point for the sewage effluent is not on the same land as the property where the sewage comes from. If this is the case, it is the occupier that should register to be at the property where the sewage comes from. If more than one house is connected to the sewage treatment plant, there is no need for every house to register. We only require that one of the houses that is connected to the sewage system register. If the sewage treatment system is located at one of these properties, then this would be the most suitable one to register.

If you are making a sewage discharge into the ground, then you must check with any neighbouring properties to ensure that no one abstracts drinking water from a well, spring or borehole within 50 metres of the point where the sewage effluent will be discharged.

We will check to make sure the sewage discharge is not near to a protected or designated area for the natural environment before we can accept your registration.

The national grid reference

We will need a 12-character National Grid Reference for the point where the sewage effluent discharges to the environment. This might be the point at which it enters a river or stream, or the point at which it enters the ground if an infiltration system is being used.

A 12-character NGR consists of 2 letters followed by 10 numbers (for example AB 12345 67890). You can obtain a 12-character NGR using a large scale map or by looking online at mapping websites.

How to register

You can register the sewage discharge from your septic tank or treatment plant either online or by paper form. Online registration will normally provide a quicker response. To register please visit the following web page: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/topics/water/122003.aspx

You can request a form by calling the Environmental Agency on 08708 506 506

What happens after you have registered?

The Environmental Agency will inform you within 15 working days if your registration has been successful. If you apply online it will be much sooner.

To maintain your sewage discharge exemption status you must continue to keep to the registration conditions (see table 2 below). This includes proper inspections, operation and maintenance of your sewage treatment system, and the regular removal of excess sludge from the sewage system by a properly authorised contractor and making records of all maintenance and repair, which must be kept for at least 5 years. In addition, the sewage treatment system must not cause pollution.

British Water has produced “a guide for users of small sewage wastewater treatment systems”, which provides useful information and is available from their website:

http://www.britishwater.co.uk/publications/Publications_and_Technical_Guides.aspx

If you fail to keep to the conditions, your discharge will no longer be exempt, and you may be committing an offence and we can take enforcement action.

The Environment Agency is obliged to keep a public register of exemptions, under the provisions of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010, Schedule 2 paragraph 7.  As we must keep a public register we are not in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998, as s.34 states that “Personal data are exempt from the non-disclosure provisions if the data consist of information which the data controller is obliged by or under any other enactment to make available to the public, whether by publishing it, making it available for inspection, or otherwise and whether gratuitously or on payment of a fee”.

What if I move house?

If you sell or leave the property you do not need to tell us, but you must pass written details of the exempt sewage discharge onto the new occupier. You need to tell them that there is an exempt sewage discharge at the property, explain what the sewage discharge is from a septic tank to an infiltration system, and the conditions they must keep to stay exempt. You must also pass on to the new occupier any records of maintenance to the sewage treatment plant.

Please take time to read the full guidance document in order to fully understand your responsibilities to the Environment Agency.