As part of the Environment Agency’s General Binding Rules one of the clauses is regarding the releasing to ground.
Under the rules for discharges to ground:
- you cannot meet the rules if you discharge through a well or borehole, or through a soakaway (designed for draining rainwater) installed after December 2007. You must upgrade to a drainage field that meets the British Standard, or connect to the public foul sewer where it is reasonable to do so. The Environment Agency will not grant a permit for sewage effluent that discharges directly to groundwater through a well, borehole or similar structure.
- if you discharge more than 2 cubic metres (2,000 litres) a day, you must connect to the public foul sewer where it is reasonable to do so, or apply for a permit
- if the discharge point is in a groundwater source protection zone 1 (SPZ1), other than SPZ1c, you must apply for a permit. An SPZ1 also includes any area within 50 metres of a private water supply for human consumption, such as a neighbour’s spring, well or borehole
- you cannot meet the rules if the discharge is in ancient woodland, or in or within 50 metres of a special area of conservation, special protection area, Ramsar site or biological site of special scientific interest (SSSI)
To check whether a discharge point is in an SPZ1, the Environment Agency suggests using Magic Map: search for the location, then select ‘Source Protection Zones merged (England)’ from the non-statutory land-based designations. The source protection zone data can also be downloaded from the DEFRA Data Services Platform.
Other mapping tools:
- Magic Map is another tool that provides geographic information about the natural environment from various government sources.