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General binding rules: small sewage discharge to the ground

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ByEnvironment Agencyivory_robin_1d4491

How to meet the general binding rules if your septic tank or small sewage treatment plant releases (discharges) waste water to the ground.

Adapted edition

Environmental permit compliance
Document type
Reference Guide
Format
DOCX
Pages
9
Language
English
Version
1.0
Updated
2026-09-16
Category
Safety & operations
Licence
Open Government Licence v3.0
Description

How to meet the general binding rules if your septic tank or small sewage treatment plant releases (discharges) waste water to the ground. Consult the original guidance for current legal and operational details.

Contents
  • Overview
  • Work out which rules apply to you
  • Existing discharges that started before 1 January 2015
  • Existing discharges that started on or after 1 January 2015 but before 2 October 2023
  • New discharges that started on or after 2 October 2023
  • Rules that apply to all discharges
  • Only discharge 2 cubic metres or less a day in volume
  • Only discharge domestic sewage
  • Do not cause pollution of surface water or groundwater
  • Use the correct treatment system
  • If you use a non-standard system (such as a well, borehole and soakaway)
  • Make sure the discharge is not in a groundwater source protection zone 1
  • If an existing discharge or a new discharge to the ground is in a SPZ1
  • Make sure your treatment system meets the relevant British Standard
  • How to check if your treatment system met the British Standard
  • Make sure your treatment system is installed and operated correctly, and has enough capacity
Source and licence
General binding rules: small sewage discharge to the ground

Environment Agency

Original source OGL-UK-3.0

AttributionEnvironment Agency, ‘General binding rules: small sewage discharge to the ground’ (updated 23 July 2026), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

ChangesNeutral text-only adaptation from the official GOV.UK Content API body: headings, paragraphs, ordered and unordered list items and clickable source-link destinations in an appendix preserved. Images, logos, page design, accessible-format request widgets and linked attachments excluded; normalised whitespace, invisible format marks and typography.

Version history
  • v1.016/09/2026
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