OFF MAINS DRAINAGE
The General Binding Rules:
January 2025 represented a decade since the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), with the Environment Agency (EA), introduced the regulatory reform called the Small Sewage Discharge General Binding Rules.
To set the scene, I’ll quote the opening two paragraphs from the original brochure produced by DEFRA and the EA:
“In January 2015, new rules were introduced that simplify the way septic tanks and small sewage treatment plants are regulated in England, protecting the environment and improving water quality.
If you have a septic tank or small sewage treatment plant, by law you must comply with the ‘general binding rules’ by ensuring your system is maintained properly and does not cause pollution. Extra protection is in place in areas designated as environmentally sensitive, where people may need to apply for a permit.”
This excellent summary effectively states if the rules are followed, you’ll have a compliant system.
In total, there are 23 rules: • Rules 1-14 apply to all small sewage discharges.
• Rules 15-21 also apply for new discharges that started on or after 1st January 2015.
• Rules 22 & 23 also apply for new discharges that started on or after 2nd October 2023.
NB. The full list is shown at the end of this article.
Although there is no doubt this reform was very much needed, there have been teething issues over the last 10 years. Without a database of all the asset owners in England, there wasn’t the ability to distribute and inform the very people that needed to know about, and could react appropriately to, the new rules.
In addition to the asset owners, it was evident that other key stakeholders, such as Building Surveyors, Conveyancers and Solicitors, were also not fully aware of the rules from when they were released and made effective in January 2015. This is of particular importance as Rule 13 states - If a property is sold, the operator must give the new operator a written notice stating that a small sewage discharge is being carried out, and giving a description of the waste water system and its maintenance requirements.
There have been many instances whereby the lack of awareness has resulted in a property transaction, completed post January 2015, with a non-compliant drainage system not being discovered during the process. Where the property is again sold, with increased and better awareness, the non-compliant system has then been flagged.
This specific dynamic created confusion and anger resulting in the inevitable finger pointing from an accountability and a “who’s to blame” perspective.
It transpires that property transactions are the key to assessing and then addressing non-compliant systems as, unless there’s an obvious pollution or surcharging event, there is no incentive for property owners to proactively check that their respective system is compliant.
The most common non-compliant system, and one of the main drivers for the general binding rules being created, is that of a septic tank discharging to a surface water (ditch, stream etc.)
26 | April 2025 |
draintraderltd.com
In this photograph, we’d introduced drain tracing dye into a septic tank and within a few minutes the dye could be seen in a ditch. This demonstrated a non-compliant discharge. Only treated effluent from a sewage treatment plant can discharge to a surface water.
Another teething issue was that of systems installed before 1983, and the misunderstanding of how the rules applied to them.
This is in reference to Rule 7 which states - All works and equipment used for the treatment of sewage effluent and its discharge must comply with the relevant design and manufacturing standards, meaning the British Standard that was in force at the time of the installation, and guidance issued by the appropriate authority on the capacity and installation of the equipment.
The ‘BS 6297:1983: The Standard for Code of practice for design and installation of small sewage treatment works and cesspools’ was the first standard introduced in England therefore, in default, any system installed pre-1983 had no specific standard to adhere to.
The two issues this has created are 1. A recommendation to replace the whole system purely due to its age and 2. The statement that the system is automatically compliant as it predates 1983.
In reality, a pre-1983 system may need to be replaced, or it may be compliant, but neither conclusion will be solely due to its age.
Let’s use the example of a septic tank installed in 1970. If the tank is functioning as expected, discharging to ground and not causing a pollution, then it doesn’t need replacing. Even if the tank is a under sized and the discharge to ground is an old rubble filled soakaway arrangement, it still doesn’t need to be replaced.
If we use the same example, but this time the 1970 septic tank is discharging to a ditch, then irrespective of the date of installation being pre-1983, it’s non-compliant. To continue the ditch discharge and make it compliant, the septic tank would need to be replaced with a sewage treatment plant.
The final perceived grey area is that of the ‘small sewage discharge’ aspect of the rules. To be compliant with the general binding rules, a discharge to ground can only be a maximum or 2,000 litres per day
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
