Water

Sewage Discharge

Changes to the law mean that all householders in England and Wales that are not connected to a public sewer, will have to register an exemption or apply for a permit to make a discharge from a septic tank (see CLA guidance note)

The CLA has been successful with our call for Government to carry out a review into the way septic tanks are registered by the Environment Agency (EA). The Association called for a review after receiving many complaints from members who were unsure about the new requirements to register septic tanks. The EA has now agreed that small domestic sewage systems in England will not have to be registered during the review period although it will still accept applications if they are sent.

Members to do not need to do anything if an application for an exemption has already been submitted.

Discussions are ongoing in Wales to establish the reasons why the Welsh Assembly Government has not encouraged the EA to follow the same approach and initiate a review particularly as there are many rural properties not connected to mains sewage.

Background

This particular change came into force on 6 April 2010 through the introduction of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (EPR). Essentially the rules regarding discharges of domestic sewage effluent from small septic tanks and sewage treatment plants were changed. Most small sewage discharges will have to register and this process will exempt householders from needing an environmental permit There are some conditions that the sewage system has to meet to achieve the exempt status:

• Size
• Location (proximity to sensitive sites like SSSI)
• Design, construction and installation
• Operation and maintenance

In fact many small sewage discharges before 6 April 2010 required a permit or consent anyway and this will still be the case for those as well as any that can’t meet the conditions- like the minimum distances from sensitive sites (e.g. SSSI). The maximum size of sewage system that can be registered is:

• 5 cubic metres per day to surface waters (such as rivers or streams) this should be registered immediately
• 2 cubic metres per day to into ground (through the ground via a drainage field or infiltration system, sometimes called a soakaway) this should be registered by 1 January 2012

Key issues

1. Most domestic sewage discharges will easily fall within the discharge thresholds, 5CUM per day surface water and 2CUM per day into the ground but:-
2. Many thousands of residents do not realize that they should already have a discharge consent under the Water Resources Act 1991.
3. Have never been informed that they are in an area that has restriction because of water abstraction e.g. Source Protection Zones.
4. Tens of thousands are within 50 meters and 500 meters of sensitive sites (SSSI) for discharging to ground and surface water respectively.

And, consequently all will almost certainly require a permit if they are granted one at all by the EA The most likely scenario is that they will not be able to discharge and will have to install a cesspit or sealed tank

The costs

The cost of building a cesspool or sealed tank is £5-15K, with monthly emptying costs of about £240 or £2880/yr but more likely to be nearer £3500/yr. Whereas a septic tank may only need to be cleaned out once per annum

Points you might want to raise with MPs;

• Request the immediate review of the regulations and an indefinite extension of the registration period
• The sheer scale in numbers of rural residents that have not been informed of the changes. E.g. no residents in my village have been approached by EA
• No information has been sent to Parish Councils
• No information has been sent by Local Authorities to residents who are building new properties or making improvements to existing properties and or septic tanks
• No information has been sent to suppliers of Sewage treatment plants
• No households have been made aware that groundwater regulations have changed and exemptions for small discharges have been removed therefore if you live above an aquifer you probably won’t get a permit to discharge anyway.
• That law abiding citizens are being criminalized

Recommendations made to Defra and the Environment Agency

1. The immediate review of the implementation of the EPR to ensure that there is no gold plating of regulation and suitable compromises are found. This must find suitable amendments that on the one hand will allow the transposition of the Groundwater Regulations and Water Framework Directive into the EPR regulation but on the other hand are risk based, proportionate and simply less bureaucratic.
   • With particular emphasis on the registration process for exemptions
   • The parameters that define the standard permit need changing because they are set to tightly and have a disproportionate impact compared to the risk of pollution
   • Consider how applications under S101A Water Industry Act (and any amendments to the legislation) might help addresses discharges from rural villages and more isolated communities.
   • How Government, Local Authorities and Water Companies can help fund upgrades to sewage systems
   • Consider only introducing upgrades to sewage systems when properties are sold
2. To extend the registration period for discharges to ground and surfaces water with immediate effect in light of the problems experienced in registering and householders generally not knowing if anything has been asked of them.
3. Engage with Defra and stakeholders to take forward the proposed review.

The Tide is High: CLA Vision for Water

The CLA has launched a policy paper; The Tide is High: CLA Vision for Water. It is a reminder to Government how important water issues are. With larger populations and accelerating climate change, water supply will become more challenging as will maintaining water quality. The risks from these and serious flooding, require the right policy framework to tackle the challenges and allow solutions to be implemented. CLA Head of Environment Derek Holliday has developed the paper with Policy and Environment Committee members and CLA members to raise the important issues. The paper is very timely considering the Government has recently announced another Water Bill and a Natural Environment White Paper in 2011 as well as consultations on flood and erosion risk.

The new private water supplies regulations

The changes were supposed to be laid before Parliament earlier this year and come into force from July 2009; Defra have delayed implementation to at least early 2010 as they are now considering a range of policy options.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory reform (BERR) have also been questioning whether annual monitoring should be carried out due to the huge extra costs per annum and along with the CLA would like to see the monitoring proposal dropped.

The proposals which were put forward would mean that councils would have six months from the date that the regulations come into force, to update their records with details of the owner, source, premises served, purpose and volume of water used, treatment, etc.

Under the new legislation councils would be required to sample more often and assess the risk of supplies. Risk assessments would involve surveying the private water supply to identify any potential risk of contamination of source water. It would also identify how to reduce or remove contaminants by treatment, and to prevent contamination during storage and distribution to consumer’s taps. Councils would have five years to complete risk assessments of all small and large supplies.

The directive does have flexibility and we are continuing to lobby Defra to use this along with existing controls (i.e. Food Hygiene Regulations 2006) so that the costs to members can be kept down.

The main elements proposed in the new Private Water Supplies Regulation 2009

In 1998 an EC Directive revised the standards for drinking water. The new Private Water Supplies Regulations will bring these requirements into our national legislation. The key proposals are summarised below;

Private water supplies will be categorised into three groups

1. Single private dwellings
2. Small domestic supplies supplying under 50 people
3. Large domestic supplies supplying over 50 people or serving a commercial premises

Monitoring and risk assessments

Your council will have six months from the date that the Regulations come into force, to update their records with details of the owner, source, premises served, purpose and volume of water used, treatment, etc.

Under the new legislation councils will be required to sample more often and assess the risk of supplies. Risk assessments will involve surveying the private water supply to identify any potential risk of contamination of source water. It will also identify how to reduce or remove contaminants by treatment, and to prevent contamination during storage and distribution to consumer’s taps. Councils will have five years to complete risk assessments of all small and large supplies.

1. Single Private Dwellings - Single private dwellings will not require routine monitoring or a risk assessment. However, councils can sample or risk assess on the owners request with the charges shown below.
2. Small Domestic Supplies - Annual monitoring on 5 basic parameters and any other parameter identified in the risk assessment will be carried out to ensure water quality
3. Large Supplies or commercial premises - Two types of monitoring will occur on these supplies;
   1. Check monitoring ensures the wholesomeness of the water and the frequency of check monitoring depends on the amount of water used.
   2. Audit monitoring determines whether the water supplies meet the standards. The suite of tests for audit monitoring is very extensive and the amount of monitoring depends on the amount of water used.

Charges

Government set charges under the new legislation. As it currently stands, owners of supplies will be charged approximately the following:

Action in an Event of a Failure – Investigation

All quality failures must be immediately investigated to determine the cause of the failure and whether it was caused by the condition of the distribution system. Remedial action will be required and it may be necessary to prohibit or restrict the use of water if it could be harmful to health.

The new Regulations make it easier for councils to take action. They will always try to resolve problems informally first. If unsuccessful, formal action will be taken.

Authorisations

Councils can serve an authorisation to allow failed supplies to continue whilst works are carried out to achieve compliance. Authorisations may only be granted for failures that do not constitute a health risk (usually chemical parameters). Before they issue one they will consult all water users and the health authority and take their views into account. Councils will inform them of the authorisation and its conditions and provide advice to those that may be at greater risk e.g. parents of babies. They will review authorisations from time to time to ensure sufficient progress is being made towards improvement.

Improvement Notices

Improvement notices will be used to restore a wholesome supply. Councils can carry out the works in default (and recover the cost) if the owner does not comply with a notice. It will be an offence to fail to comply with an improvement notice.

Single private dwellings may have improvement notices served on them if there is a risk to health.

Restriction Notices

A restriction notice will be served if they consider the supply to be unwholesome. This will prohibit or restrict the use of the water supply. In deciding whether to serve the notice we will weigh up the risks of using it against restricting its use. It is an offence not to comply with a restriction notice. Councils will inform all consumers of the risk, provide advice and allow them to minimise the risk.

Appeals

Appeals can be made to the Magistrates Court under the proposed regulations. In the case of an appeal the improvement notice is automatically suspended unless there is risk to human health.