Regulation of water discharges

Under the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999, the consent of the Department of Environment is required to discharge any trade or sewage effluent to any waterway, or any water contained in underground strata.
This includes effluent from any commercial, industrial or domestic premises.

Domestic Consents Section

Consent to discharge waste from a single domestic property is granted on behalf of the Department subject to recommendations made by local field staff.

Consent will include conditions relating to the quality and quantity of the effluent discharge. The conditions are drawn-up to ensure that the receiving waterway or the underground strata can sustain the discharge.

Industrial Consents Section

The Industrial Consents Section is made up of a team of professional scientists and administrative staff who deal with new applications for commercial and industrial discharge consents.

The consents include conditions outlining the quality and quantity of the discharges. The conditions are drawn-up to ensure that the waste can be absorbed by the receiving waterway without affecting the quality of the aquatic environment, or breaching national or European Commission (EC) standards.

The Industrial Consents section asses the existing consented discharges and visits sites to deal with compliance issues.

Registers of discharge consents are held by us and these are open to public inspection. The results of compliance monitoring are also in the public domain.

Applying for Consent

• For details about making an application for discharge consent from a single domestic dwelling visit our section on Septic Tanks/Domestic Dwelling Discharges
• For details about making an application for discharge consent from multiple domestic dwellings or industry visit our Industrial and Private Sewage section
• Please note that application fees for some types of consents have been revised from 1 January 2012.
• Your application will be acknowledged within three working days of receipt.  
• Depending on the complexity of your application it will be processed within four months unless a time extension is agreed with you.
• If your application is refused you will be told how to appeal.

For further information contact:

Northern Ireland Environment Agency Water Management Unit Telephone: 028 92623010

Fax: 028 92623120 E-mail: WaterInfo@doeni.gov.uk