Water discharges
Surface waters include rivers, lakes, loughs, lochs, streams, reservoirs and canals. Groundwater is all water located below the water table.
Discharging to water
Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, if you discharge anything other than clean, uncontaminated water you must have a:
- discharge consent for discharges to surface water
- a groundwater authorisation for discharges to groundwater
These consents and authorisations are issued by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).
You must comply with the conditions of your discharge consent or groundwater authorisation.
Scotland
In Scotland, if you discharge anything to the water environment you may require an authorisation from SEPA –
Some discharges are authorised if you comply with the general binding rules (GBR). In such cases, you do not need to apply for authorisation from SEPA.
You must comply with the conditions of your authorisation.
If you discharge anything to the public foul sewer, see the page in this guideline:
Discharging to land
In Northern Ireland, you must obtain a discharge consent from the NIEA if you discharge trade effluent (liquid waste) into land or more than 2 cubic metres per day of treated sewage into land.
In Scotland, you must obtain an authorisation from SEPA for all discharges of trade effluent (liquid waste) and treated sewage into land.
Sewage discharges
For information on sewage discharges see the page in our guideline:
Guidance for sewage discharge activities in Northern Ireland and Scotland
Prevent pollution
You must ensure there's no risk of contaminated run-off from your premises polluting surface waters or groundwater. For example, your vehicles may leak oil, or rainwater may be contaminated by chimney emissions.
You can be prosecuted for allowing any polluting matter to enter surface waters or groundwater.