The Environment Agency is a governing body in charge of protecting, preserving and improvement of the natural environment in England, within this they manage flood management, conservation and also regulating land and water pollution.

In the wastewater industry the EA are responsible for the issue and regulation of permits to discharge, it is within their responsibilities to ensure that no pollution is taking place that may impact on the local ecological area.

They are also the body capable of issuing fines and taking legal action should you be found to be in breach of your permit.

The EA permit to discharge is an agreement between the proprietor of a wastewater system and the Environment Agency on what standard must be met during normal operation of your septic tank/ Sewage treatment plant.

For larger commercial units in particular the permit will details what standards the effluent quality must reach to be compliant, this usually includes criteria for the Suspended solids, Biochemical Oxygen Demand and Ammonia, however it can also include pH levels, phosphorus, nitrogen and more!

At the time of the permit application the expected daily flow will need to be identified and submitted so an accurate license can be issued, with this an upper threshold will be outlined and any circumstances where the flow may be increased will require a permit variation to be submitted and approved before any development works can take place.

Once issued with your EA permit you will be required to pay an annual subsistence charge (excluding charities) and the application cost is based on the nature of the waste (commercial/domestic) with the flow and discharge location determining the assigned fee.

If you have a private wastewater system you may have heard a permit being mentioned however for the majority of Domestic applications this will not apply providing their sewage treatment plant/ septic tank meets the British Standards at the time of install, complies with the General Binding Rules 2020 and is serviced and emptied in line with the manufacturer’s guidelines.

When considering whether a permit is required or not the first tell tale sign is after calculating the daily flow, for systems which discharge less than 2 cubic metres to ground or 5 cubic meters to surface water then there is a good chance you might be exempt…

However…even for some small domestic systems a permit to discharge may be required, this is predominantly for systems located within SSSI protection zones. Due to the ecological sensitive nature of the areas (could be flood zone risk, rare habitats/ species within the area etc).

Here at R A Dalton we have a specialist team who co-ordinate, compile information and apply for the Environment Agency applications on your behalf, there are circumstances were further information may need to be identified such as habitat assessments before approval can be obtained.

It is vital that the forms submitted to the Environment agency are accurate as any deviances could result in you being unable to achieve your permit criteria and subsequently be liable for a fine. In some circumstances a Bespoke permit may need to be applied for if the site does not fall within a standard category.

Over recent months we have found that some applications have taken up to a year to be assigned to a permitting office which puts more pressure on sites which are not reaching the required criteria but yet needing a new system installed. Therefore, there may be interim works required whilst waiting for approval to be gained, this could include regular desludging of the existing unit or even hiring a temporary sewage treatment plant.

Even once your permit is in place and your new system installed then our servicing team can help keep you on track, with routine servicing and emptying being an essential part of your responsibilities, our engineers can keep your system running like a well oiled machine. We can even arrange routine sampling to ensure the effluent quality is well within the accepted levels.

For more information on the importance of your EA permit or to see how we can help, why not give us a call on 01388 537030.