Businesses Trade effluent

Trade effluent is any liquid waste (effluent) discharged into our sewers from a business or industrial process on a trade premises.

This includes any wastewater derived from a production process or from washing down or cooling activities, including wastes from public-funded activities such as municipal landfills.

This can be best described as anything other than domestic sewage (toilet, bath or sink waste) or uncontaminated surface water and roof drainage (rainwater).

Section 141 of the Water Industry Act 1991 defines trade effluent as: 'any liquid, either with or without particles of matter in suspension in the liquid, which is wholly or partly produced in the course of any trade or industry carried on at a trade premises.'

Trade effluent includes wastewater coming from, but not limited to:

• Commercial car wash
• Laundries/launderettes
• Food and drink production
• Chemical manufacturers

The following activities are currently not consented under trade effluent legislation and you may follow specific guidance for the disposal of waste into our sewers:

• Kitchens and toilets at commercial premises
• Hairdressers
• Swimming pools (domestic)
• Offices and non-household premises that only discharge domestic sewage
• Restaurants, pubs, hotels, takeaways, canteens and healthcare sector meal services (we expect these activities to have suitable grease management procedures in place as well as measures to prevent food waste from entering the public sewer)
• Hospitals, nursing/care homes, GP surgeries, dental practices and veterinary practises

If you have any enquiries related to the above, please get in touch with the Trade Effluent team using the details below.

Unlike domestic sewage, trade effluent is highly variable in terms on strength and volume and may contain substances that present the risk of harm to people, our sewerage network, treatment processes and the environment. 

Trade effluent controls are in place to reduce these risks to acceptable levels and ensure that our network and treatment processes are not overloaded, which could have a potential detrimental and catastrophic impact on the receiving environment.

Under Section 111 of the Water Industry Act 1991, it is an offence to discharge any matter likely to injure the sewer or drain, to interfere with the free flow of its contents or to affect prejudicially the treatment and disposal of its contents.

Trade effluent discharged to our sewers is mixed with domestic sewage and directed via pump or gravity to one of our water recycling centres.

The incoming wastewater passes through a screen where large solids are removed. Then the wastewater is put through a settlement process. Here, heavy particles of solid waste sink to the bottom of a tank to form a layer of sludge. The sludge recovered goes to a sludge treatment centre for further treatment, including digestion to remove harmful bacteria allowing it to be recycled to land (farmers can use it as fertilisers).

The next stage (biological treatment) uses bacteria and microbes to remove organic contaminants from wastewater. The naturally occurring biomass breaks down the organic material as food and converts it into less harmful components.

Finally, the almost clean water goes through an additional settlement stage (clarification), which removes any remaining waste particles. In some cases further treatment is required to meet stricter limits, where, for example, we discharge into nutrient-sensitive watercourses or bathing waters. The treated final effluent is eventually discharged back into the environment where it is ready to go through the cycle all over again.

A trade effluent consent is a legal document issued under the regulations within the Water Industry Act 1991. It is issued to the owner or occupier of a commercial or industrial property.

 

Trade effluent consent

Southern Water will issue a trade effluent consent for discharges greater than six months duration.

If you have an existing consent and want to move location within our region, you will need to apply for a new consent prior to the move.

 

Temporary trade effluent consent

A temporary consent issued by Southern Water will be valid for six months, after which the consent will automatically terminate. A temporary consent cannot be extended. Should a temporary discharge extend beyond six months duration then the retailer must submit a new temporary consent application.

Examples of temporary discharges are:

• Land remediation
• Ground dewatering
• Building site discharges
• Pipework cleaning and flushing

Southern Water may issue a temporary trade effluent consent for multiple sites, called multi-site temporary consent. In order to qualify for this consent, the discharges must be of very low risk to Southern Water. An assessment will be made at time of application.

The consent will contain a number of conditions including those that control the quality and quantity of the discharge. Most consents will contain numeric limits for one or more of the parameters listed below.

 

Volume

Expressed in cubic meters per 24 hour period, the volume is limited and assessed on an individual basis to prevent overloading of the receiving treatment works.

 

Discharge flowrate

Expressed in litres per second, the discharge flowrate is limited and assessed on an individual basis to prevent sewer flooding.

 

pH

The standard range of pH in our region is six to 10. Extremes of pH can create unsafe working environments, affect the biological treatment systems in the receiving treatment works and damage the sewer network.

 

Temperature

This is limited to a maximum of 43°C at the point of discharge to sewer in order to protect the staff working in our sewers, minimise odours and reduce the risk of explosives atmospheres.

 

Ammonia

Ammonia is classified as toxic and dangerous for the environment. It is highly toxic to aquatic animals and can cause unsafe sewer atmospheres.

Ammonia is found in sewage, mostly in human urine and some household cleaning products. Some industrial effluents, especially from mining, crude oil processing, metal finishing, pharmaceutical production or food processing facilities may also contain ammonia. This parameter may also be used for charging purposes.

 

Chemical oxygen demand (COD)

COD is a measurement of the oxygen required to oxidise soluble and particulate organic matter in water. When effluents with high COD levels are discharged in the environment, there will be a reaction of the dissolved oxygen available, potentially causing losses in the ecosystem. This is limited to prevent overloading of the wastewater treatment processes and ensure there is no detrimental impact on the environment.

Soluble organic compounds, residual food waste, sugar, emulsified oils are common sources of COD. This parameter may also be used for charging purposes.

 

Suspended solids

This is controlled to ensure there are no blockages in the sewer and reduce treatment and transportation costs. This parameter may also be used for charging purposes.

 

Fat, oil and grease

Also known as FOG, this is controlled to prevent blockages in our sewers. It can also cause operational difficulties at pumping stations and treatment works. Some of the most common sources include restaurants, pubs, food processing facilities, automobile service shops and pharmaceutical manufacturing processes.

 

Sulphate

Sulphate can cause corrosion of concrete sewers and production of odours.

Sulphate is naturally present in surface water and groundwater as water moves through soil and rock formations that contain sulphate minerals. Many industrial wastewaters, particularly those associated with mining and mineral processing, can contain high concentrations of sulphate.

 

Metals

This includes metals as copper, lead, nickel, zinc, chromium, cadmium, antimony, tin, silver, etc. The presence of metals can inhibit biological treatment processes and may accumulate in the environment. An Environmental Impact Assessment is required.

Most common sources of metals in trade effluent are from metal finishing and electroplating activities, mining activities or textile industries.

If your premises is within our region and you’re proposing to discharge trade effluent to the public sewer, you’ll need our prior written consent.

This map shows our sewerage boundary. See larger map.

Since 1 April 2017, the business retail water market is open to businesses, charities and public sector organisations with premises that qualify.

These ‘non-household’ customers are likely to be eligible if their premises are:

• used mainly for business
• supplied from a wholly or mainly English-based water company.

Licensed retailers now buy wholesale water services – the physical supply of water and the removal of wastewater – from the regional water companies, who continue to supply your water, treat your wastewater and maintain the water and wastewater pipe networks.

The retailers package these water services with other services and compete for customers.

Customers are free to choose their retailer by looking at who has the best deal for them. If you don’t have a retailer yet, you can find a retailer now.

Every business premises has a unique Supply Point Identifier (SPID number) to identify the water and/or sewerage supplies at the property. You can find a copy of your water and sewerage SPID on your bills. Otherwise, you can obtain your SPID by contacting your retailer and providing your premises address.

In some cases, you may not have a SPID and a SPID will be specifically created for your site on issuing of a trade effluent consent.

To apply for a Trade Effluent consent or request a change to an existing Trade Effluent consent you will need to contact your retailer. 

If you would like to find out who your retailer is, please visit Open Water for further information.

Once the Retailer submits the application form to Southern Water, we have two months to provide a final response.

All trade effluent applications must be made using a Trade Effluent Customer Application Form.

• New consent
• New temporary consent (a Trade Effluent consent with a maximum duration of 6 months or a Trade Effluent consent for multi-site activities for a maximum duration of 6 months)
• Variation to an existing consent (Including change of company name)
• Termination of consent

Yes, in some circumstances. If, after our consultation assessments, the proposed trade effluent is unsuitable for discharge into the sewer, we will refuse the consent. We’ll inform you at the earliest opportunity of the exact reasons for the refusal.

Under Section 122 of the Water Industry Act 1991, you have the right to appeal when the sewerage undertaker refuses to grant consent.

Yes. It is a criminal offence under section 121 of the Water industry Act to breach any consent condition set on your trade effluent consent. Doing so, may result in enforcement action taken against your company and, in some cases, prosecution.

Enforcement actions will vary from case to case. This will be mostly determined by the frequency and severity of the breach.

The Trade Effluent inspector will engage with a Network Protection and Enforcement officer should the breach trigger an escalation to a higher level of enforcement. Enforcement methods that may be used during this process include breach letters, action plans, formal sampling, formal caution and prosecution.

 

Breach letters:
A breach letter is always issued when a consent breach is detected – these can include sample breaches and/or non-sample breaches. This will request you to investigate the circumstances associated with the failure and confirm what measures are being taken to prevent a reoccurrence. A written explanation needs to be provided within 14 days of the issuing of the letter.

Action plan:
In some cases, before proceeding with further escalation, an action plan may be requested to your company. The object of an action plan is to provide an opportunity to detail the actions that you intend to take to bring your company’s discharge back to within the sample limits or non-sample conditions of the consent and to ensure that it remains within those limits in the future. This should allow Southern Water to track the progression of these actions and receive regular updates.

Formal Sampling:
This may be initiated if a requested Action Plan is not completed or does not deliver required compliance. If the sample breach is severe then formal sampling may be initiated at the same time, or instead of an action plan. Should the results of the formal sampling show that your trade effluent discharge continues to be in breach of consent limits then formal action, which may include prosecution, will be taken.

Formal Caution:
In cases where a prosecution is not considered to be the most appropriate course of action, the issue of a formal caution will be considered. This is the written acceptance by your company that you have committed an offence and may be used where a prosecution could properly have been brought.

Prosecution:
Don't forget that any breach of consent conditions to your trade effluent consent constitutes a criminal offence under the Water Industry Act 1991 and this may lead to prosecution.

No. Trade Effluent should only be discharged to a foul or combined sewer.

A surface water sewer should only collect uncontaminated rainwater run-off as it goes directly into a watercourse. Discharging wastewater, such as sewage and trade effluent, into a surface water sewer can cause serious environmental pollution.

No. Your trade effluent consent will remain active unless you are no longer discharging trade effluent into our sewers or your premises is closed. In that case, you will need to submit a termination request to terminate your consent and all the charges associated to this. You will need to contact the Southern Water Trade Effluent team or your retailer to submit this request.

Southern Water can also terminate a consent if we have enough evidence that a trade effluent discharge has ceased. Your retailer will be notified at the earliest opportunity.

Temporary trade effluent consent automatically expires after six months.

Yes. We have the right to enter your site at any reasonable time to take a sample of your trade effluent.

Under Section 171 of the Water Industry Act 1991, any person designated by a sewerage undertaker shall have a right to enter any premises at all reasonable hours for the purpose of taking action or carrying out any works (i.e. collection of trade effluent samples or enforcement action when Southern Water believes a discharge is harming our assets or the environment).

If you're currently discharging trade effluent without a consent, you must contact us immediately. To apply for a consent, please contact your retailer.

It is an offence under section 118 of the Water Industry Act 1991 to discharge trade effluent without consent. This constitutes as a criminal offence and may lead to prosecution.

If your company temporarily ceases its operations or temporarily stops discharging trade effluent, you should notify your retailer. Following agreement by Southern Water and the retailer, the consent can be put on a discontinuation status. The trade effluent charges payable for the agreed duration of the discontinuation shall be trade effluent standing charges only (no volumetric charges).

Discontinuation of the trade effluent consent will apply from the first day of the following month.

You must notify Southern Water straight away and apply for the changes through your retailer. This includes variation of current consent limits, change of legal company name or any change in the legal identity of the company. A termination request will be submitted if you are no longer discharging trade effluent into our sewers.

Please contact us at [email protected] if you would like to request public register details (details of consented trade effluent discharges and premises within the Southern Water catchment).

Yes. We routinely inspect and sample trade effluent discharges in order to:

• check compliance against consent conditions
• determine the volume and strength of the effluent for charging purposes
• assess the volumes and strengths of trade effluent being discharged to see what effect they have on our assets.

For any samples taken by Southern Water, you will receive correspondence by email confirming your sample results. If you wish to receive the original analysis certificate from the laboratory, you will need to notify your retailer (certificate issue will be subject to an annual charge). All sample analysis will also be provided to your retailer.

For each trade effluent consent, the number of samples Southern Water will strive to take in each year will be determined by the risk assigned to the trade effluent discharge

Factors considered when calculating the risk of a trade effluent discharge:

• Consented suspended solids limit
• Processes generation the trade effluent
• Capacity of the receiving treatment works
• Maximum permitted volume to be discharged (m³/day)
• Compliance history
• Presence of priority or/and accumulative substance
• Consented chemical oxygen demand (COD) limit

The samples can vary from zero to 48 samples per year depending on the value of the consent monitoring risk associated to the discharge. 

Yes. Your consent will be reviewed on a regular basis. The review frequency will depend on the risk associated to the discharge. This can vary from ‘every 10 years’ for low risk discharges to ‘yearly’ for high risk discharges.

The review process may result in the need to vary one or more of the conditions contained within your existing consent. If we discover that a change has not been notified to us, we may request to formally apply for this via your retailer (an application fee may be applied).

As part of the conditions within the consent you are expected to notify us of any changes, as you could be in breach of your trade effluent consent.

Yes. As part of a consent, a trader is required to provide a sampling point so that samples of trade effluent can be given for control and charging purposes.

The sample point must be such that it will provide a sample of the trade effluent discharged to the public sewer without domestic sewage contamination, and provide safe and reasonable access at all times.

Water Industry Act 1991, section 121: Conditions of the consent – ‘the provision and maintenance of such an inspection chamber or manhole as will enable a person readily to take samples, at any time, of what is passing into the sewer from the trade premises’.

Yes. The company may use sample analysis provided by the retailer or its customer for the purposes of consent monitoring or calculating trade effluent charges by agreement with the retailer. All such sample analysis must be carried out by a UKAS accredited laboratory and be taken from the previously agreed sample point. 

Self-monitoring requirements may be incorporated into trade effluent consents.

Customers are encouraged to set up self-monitoring programmes as they assist with the early detection of problems.

Both the occupier of the premises and Southern Water have a duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to ensure that any visiting Southern Water employees can safely carry out their duties.

Our employees shall act with due care for their own health and safety and observe any site specific health and safety arrangements.

Your billing services are provided by your retailer and not by Southern Water.

Since the opening of the retail market in April 2017, all non-household customers are now billed by their chosen retailer. Wholesalers, like Southern Water, are still responsible for managing trade effluent discharges into their network and for setting up trade effluent accounts for billing, but they will charge your retailer who then charges you, their customer.

For queries about your bill or charges, please contact your retailer. Your retailer may be able to advise you on how to save water, spend less and get other benefits.

Trade effluent customers will often be charged on the volume and the strength of the trade effluent discharged. Charges may be calculated using the Mogden formula which considers the difference of your trade effluent to average domestic sewage with regard to chemical oxygen demand, solids and, in some cases, ammonia. High concentrations of these parameters are likely to cause higher bills due to the requirement to transport, treat and dispose of the effluent.

The volume of the trade effluent taken as having been discharged shall, for billing purposes, be the volume:

1. Recorded on a meter installed on the effluent discharge pipe
2. Assessed from the volume of water supplied recorded on a meter or meters installed on the water supply
3. Calculated by Southern Water

By reference to, but not limited to:

• Meters that are sub-meters to a main meter
• Estimated volume where Southern Water determines that a reading on a meter may not be suitable for the purposes of calculating charges due to an occurrence such as, leaks or mechanical failure of the meter 
• Standard allowances
• Customer-specific allowances determined by Southern Water
• Rainfall
• Conceited volume

Calculation of a representative COD settles, suspended solids pH7 and ammonia concentrations.

1. Standard strength

For specific types of discharge, a standard strength will be used to calculate the unit charge. These strengths are fixed by the company for each charging year and are based on its analysis of the particular type of discharge.

2. Agreed strength

The company may decide that the standard sampling is not appropriate for determining the strength of a trade effluent discharge for billing purposes. In such cases, the company will agree with the customer and their retailer an appropriate agreed strength.

3. Actual strength

The calculation of COD settled, suspended solids pH7 and ammonia for billing purposes will be calculated by one of the following:

• A 12 moth rolling average
• A three month rolling average
• A one month average.

All trade effluent services will be billed through your retailer apart from the non-standard charges below. Southern Water will charge you directly for the non-standard charges below and you will receive these invoices separately.

 

Recovery of incurred costs

• The recovery of extraordinary costs incurred by Southern Water due to an event caused by you. This includes, but is not limited to, damage to our assets or increased operational costs.
• The recovery of costs incurred by Southern Water in respect of pre-emptive measures undertaken by us to minimise the impact on our assets in anticipation of a breach or breaches of your trade effluent consent.

 

Formal sampling charge

The recovery of costs incurred by Southern Water in respect of formal sampling undertaken in accordance with our policies and procedures, due to the failure to comply with your consent.

 

Charges

Type			Charge
Recovery of incurred costs			Determined on an individual incident basis
Formal sampling charge (7am - 6pm)			£255.00 per sample
Formal sampling charge (6pm - 7am)			£480.00 per sample

 

 

When Southern Water owns the meter, it is responsible for the meter maintenance and set up, including the initial and final meter reads. The retailer is then responsible for all the meter readings on a regular cyclic basis. Private meter maintenance and installation is the responsibility of the customer – reads should be provided regularly to the retailer to input for billing purposes and the wholesaler for compliance and monitoring. Any changes to your private meter should be reported to your retailer as soon as possible.

You can get a private trade effluent meter installed to improve the accuracy of the trade effluent volume calculation for both monitoring and charging purposes. You are responsible for installing and maintaining the equipment. If you're installing a new meter, replacing an existing meter or think you might have a faulty private meter, please contact your retailer.