Find out about how we're improving our water quality regulation.
We are improving the way we regulate discharges to water by introducing a number of 'better regulation' initiatives. It will mean a number of changes to the way we regulate organisations that discharge to water in England and Wales.
Better regulation means we'll be more effective and efficient. We will regulate discharges based on their risk to the water environment, focusing our resource where it's most appropriate and where it has the biggest benefit to the water environment. This approach to regulation was recommended in the Hampton Review in 2004, which called for all regulators to improve efficiency and reduce the administrative burden on businesses. It sets out a risk-based framework to which all regulators must now work.
For the water environment, better regulation means reducing the number of pollution incidents and improving discharge quality, resulting in better water quality. At the same time it means we're able to reduce the burden on those we regulate. We can concentrate more of our resources on tackling discharges that present the highest risk.
As part of this approach, we've introduced the following initiatives:
Operational Risk Appraisal (Opra)
We will use Opra to assess the risk posed by discharges to water. It will allow us to focus our resource where the risks are greatest, so the water environment benefits most.
Opra takes account of the:
- composition and location of the discharge
- complexity of the treatment provided
- recent performance of the operator
- nature of the quality management systems in place.
Opra scores each discharge based on its risk to the environment. There are three tiers of risk: Tier 3 indicates a high risk; Tiers 1 and 2 are lower risk.
Operator Self Monitoring (OSM)
Since OSM was introduced in 2009 water companies have monitored their own discharges to water and reported the results to us. We use these results to determine how well they comply with their permit conditions. Discharges to water from water discharge activities carried out by other operators continue to be monitored by us.
Under OSM we:
- set the frequency of monitoring done by operators, according to the risk posed by the discharge and the operator's performance
- focus on discharges posing the highest risks
- set the standards we require from operators through the certification scheme for monitoring (MCERTS), audited UK Accreditation Service (UKAS)
- check that operators comply with the monitoring requirements through site inspections and audits
- continue to monitor the quality of receiving waters, assessing the impact of discharge quality on them.
Environmental Permitting Programme
Our Environmental Permitting Programme (EPP) simplifies the way we license regulated activities. Under EPP, a site will only need one environmental permit (as opposed to many permits for different purposes). This makes it easier and cheaper for businesses to operate, and allows them to concentrate on maintaining environmental standards.
On 6 April 2010, the EPP was expanded to include water quality. For more information please see our environmental permitting pages:
