You may not be able to discharge your effluents to the foul sewer. This could be because:
- there is no foul sewer available
- your effluents are not suitable to be discharged to a foul sewer.
Where no foul sewer is available
If there is no foul sewer immediately available, you may be able to:
- change your process to eliminate the effluent
- pump your effluent to the nearest foul sewer, with your water and sewerage company or authority’s permission
- pay for the effluent to be taken away for off-site treatment
- treat the effluent on-site, before discharging it to a watercourse (with your environmental regulator’s consent).
If you are setting up a new business you should investigate effluent disposal before you choose the location of your business.
Trade effluent must not be discharged into a surface water sewer.
Effluents unsuitable for discharge to the foul sewer
Effluents can contain substances that may harm the sewer or treatment process, or be harmful to human health.
Harmful substances include:
- oil and fats
- solvents
- working solutions containing heavy metals
- complex organic mixtures
- flammable materials
- other materials likely to damage the sewer, or harm people working in the sewer.
You may be able to:
- change your process so you don’t produce the waste
- treat the waste on site before discharging it to a sewer
- pay for it to be taken away for off-site treatment.
If you can’t discharge an effluent to the foul sewer it will be classed as waste.
You must comply with your duty of care responsibilities when dealing with any waste.
You must ensure that all your business waste is handled, recovered and disposed of responsibly, and by individuals or businesses that are authorised to deal with it.
You must keep records of all waste transferred for at least two years, through a system of signed waste transfer notes.
If you are disposing of a material that has hazardous properties, it may need to be dealt with as hazardous/special waste. There are additional requirements when handling hazardous/special waste. You can read about how to identify and handle hazardous/special waste in our guidance.
