Water quality documents - surface and groundwater
These documents explain how we regulate discharges to surface water and make decisions on applications for environmental permits.
They also give details of the processes described in our environmental permitting guidance on point source discharges to surface water or groundwater. These documents may help you with any questions about the regulatory process relating to surface water and groundwater activities.
Most water and groundwater permitting guidance documents are on our environmental permitting guidance page.
Please note: We apologise if links in some of the following documents do not work. If you find a broken link please email Sheila Sowerby who will give you the relevant information.
You may also find some parts of the documents are highlighted in yellow. This is to let you know what has changed since the last version was issued.
Compliance documents
- Water Quality Compliance Document Map (PDF, 54KB)
- 06_09 Assessing compliance of consented discharges to water (PDF, 225KB)
- 114_06 Method for assessing compliance - environmental permits for landspreading waste sheep dip and pesticide washings (PDF, 235KB)
- 1155_08 Assessing compliance of sewage works discharges that are subject to descriptive permits (PDF, 131KB)
- 1155_08 SD01 Inspection sheet (PDF, 53KB)
- 16_02 Recording and categorising water industry and operator reported incident (PDF, 140KB)
- 26_05 Applying the Compliance Classification Scheme to breaches of environmental permits for a groundwater activity (PDF, 260KB)
- Guidance on undertaking an Operator Monitoring Assessment of discharges to water subject to Operator Self Monitoring and Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive Self Monitoring (PDF, 197KB)
- 337_07 Water Quality Planning - Assessing environmental compliance (PDF, 80KB)
- 472_10 Assessing compliance with effluent flow conditions (PDF, 141KB)
- 58_03 Water discharge permitting: Assessing compliance with consent conditions relating to UV disinfection of waste water (PDF, 131KB)
- 74_07 Assessing and monitoring numeric compliance of water discharge activity permits (PDF, 220KB)
- 91_09 Methodology for Assessing Compliance (MAC) for water discharge activities regulated under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010 (PDF, 225KB)
- 97_09 Site inspections of Operator Self Monitoring (OSM) water companies, including sampler assessments and audits (PDF, 185KB)
- 985_10 Microbial Source Tracking (MST) - survey design and data interpretation (PDF, 86KB)
Permitting documents
- Water quality permitting process - document map (PDF, 99KB)
- 059_08 Determining an application for a Section 166 consent under the Water Industry Act 1991 (PDF, 135KB)
- 102_05 Technical assessment for determining groundwater permits for land spreading (PDF, 200KB)
- 104_05 Environmental permit reviews - Groundwater activites (PDF, 127KB)
- 141_07 Applying the Habitats Regulations to water quality permissions to discharge: reviewed and new applications (PDF, 511KB)
- 221_07 How to use groundwater activity notices (PDF, 134KB)
- 231_10 Processing applications to use herbicides in or near water and aerial spraying of pesticides near water (PDF, 196KB)
- 347_09 Water quality consenting: disinfection of wastewater (PDF, 240KB)
- 347_09_SD01 Supporting document - Water quality permitting: microbial monitoring requirements for disinfection schemes (PDF, 60KB)
- 347_09_SD02 Supporting document - Water quality consenting standard: Assessment of the acceptability of seasonal wastewater disinfection (PDF, 56KB)
- 385_07 Regulation of sewage discharge flow (PDF, 106KB)
- 429_05 Assessing the risk of pollution for groundwater from permitting discharges (PDF, 201KB)
- 537_06 On-farm burial of carcasses in the event of an animal disease epidemic - technical assessment (PDF, 172KB)
- 538_06 Effluent disposal in sewered areas (PDF, 293KB)
- 55_03 Water quality consenting guidance: assessment of discharges of sewage effluent and trade effluent to ground – new applications and reviews (PDF, 185KB)
Planning documents
- Water quality planning - document map (PDF, 78KB)
- 111_07 Water Quality Planning: the water quality planning (WQP) process (PDF, 230KB)
- 111_07_SD03 Codes of practice for data handling - Developing software for the Test Data Facility (TDF) (PDF, 146KB)
- 111_07_SD06 Simcat 11.5 - A guide and reference for users (PDF, 2MB)
- 1141_08 Water quality planning – identifying schemes for the PR09 National Environment Programme (NEP): Identifying environmental outcome measures (PDF, 139KB)
- 1164_08 Water quality planning - prioritising Drinking Water Protected Areas (DrWPAs) (PDF, 75KB)
- 125_07 Water Quality Planning: identifying uses, objectives and targets (PDF, 112KB)
- 177_06 Water quality: using cesspools (PDF, 105KB)
- 194_07 Water Quality Planning (WQP) framework and how we will use it (PDF, 82KB)
- 206_05 Water quality guidance: first time sewerage duty – section 101A Water Industry Act 1991 (Version no.1) (PDF, 160KB)
- 216_07 Water Quality Planning: identifying reasons for failure (PDF, 150KB)
- 299_05 Water Quality Planning: making changes to Water Company AMP programmes (PDF, 201KB)
- 35_05 Monitoring & Assessment: Data and Information Acquisition Plan for chemical and ecological monitoring 2010/11 (PDF, 860KB)
- 35_09 Water Quality Planning: identifying schemes for the PR09 National Environment Programme (PDF, 113KB)
- 378_07 Water quality planning: Identifying schemes for the PR09 National Environment Programme (PDF, 200KB)
- 415_07 Water Quality Planning: approval and sign off for Asset Management Plans (AMP) improvement programme schemes (PDF, 107KB)
More information
We have updated many of our documents following the introduction of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010. If you cannot find a copy of the document you are looking for please email Anna Wilby.
