If your business discharges anything other than domestic sewage into the public foul sewer i.e. process water, wash-down water, chemical residues, or compressor condensate you almost certainly need a trade effluent discharge consent from the water authority. Discharging without one is a criminal offence under the Water Industry Act 1991, regardless of whether the breach was intentional.
Our consultants confirm whether your activities need a consent, prepare and submit your application, and liaise with the water authority throughout the whole process.Who needs a trade effluent discharge consent?
You’re likely to need consent if your site carries out any of the following:
- Vehicle washing
- Process water discharge from manufacturing or production
- Chemical or pharmaceutical manufacturing
- Food and drink production
- Engineering or metal finishing, including degreasing and treatment baths
- Condensate discharge from compressors or refrigeration plant
This isn’t an exhaustive list. If your site produces any liquid waste other than ordinary domestic sewage — anything that isn’t from toilets, kitchens or washrooms — it’s worth checking whether consent applies to you.
What is a trade effluent discharge consent?
Under Section 141 of the Water Industry Act 1991, trade effluent is defined as any liquid, with or without matter in suspension, that is produced wholly or partly in the course of a trade or industry at trade premises.
The discharge of trade effluent to a foul sewer is regulated by the relevant water and sewerage company (the sewerage undertaker). This regulation is intended to protect the sewer network, wastewater treatment works and the wider environment.
Discharging trade effluent without the required consent is an offence under Section 118 of the Water Industry Act 1991. This may result in a fine on summary conviction or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment. Separately, Section 121 makes it an offence to breach the conditions of an existing trade effluent consent.
Where consent is granted, it will specify the conditions and discharge limits that must be met. These may include parameters such as pH, chemical oxygen demand (COD), suspended solids and temperature, as well as limits on the volume and rate of discharge and restrictions on specific substances.
Consent holders will generally be required to undertake regular sampling and monitoring to demonstrate ongoing compliance and may be required to report any exceedances or breaches of the consent conditions.
What’s excluded
Trade effluent consent covers the discharge of trade effluent to the foul sewer only. It does not cover surface water, including rainwater run-off, which is regulated separately, or ordinary domestic sewage from toilets, kitchens and washrooms. If your site discharges wastewater to a watercourse, soakaway or surface water sewer, rather than the foul sewer network, you are likely to require a different type of environmental permit, such as a discharge to controlled waters environmental permit from the Environment Agency, or the equivalent regulatory authorisation in Scotland or Wales.
Key benefits of our Trade Effluent Discharge Consent service
- Confirm whether your activities require consent before you apply
- Prepare and submit a complete application, reducing the risk of delays from missing information
- Expert liaison with your water authority throughout the process
- Support with variations to an existing consent as your operations change
- Advice on any treatment or site works needed to bring your discharge within consent parameters
- Avoid the disruption and legal exposure of operating without the correct consent
What to expect from our Trade Effluent Discharge Consent service
Our team of environmental experts will liaise with your water company to confirm whether you need a trade effluent discharge consent, and either prepare a new application or manage a variation to an existing one. We handle:
- Confirming the correct consent route (permanent or temporary) for your discharge.
- Preparing and submitting the application, including details of discharge volume, rate, and composition.
- Liaising with your water company on assessment queries and consultation.
- Advising on any changes needed to meet consent parameters.
- Supporting ongoing compliance once your consent is granted, including sampling and reporting.
Timescales vary by water company, but most applications are assessed within around two months of submission, provided the information supplied is complete. Applications with gaps or missing technical detail take longer — which is exactly where a well-prepared submission makes the difference.
Understanding the strength and volume of your effluent before you apply also puts you in a stronger position, both for the application itself and for managing costs once you’re consented (trade effluent charges are calculated using the Mogden formula). If you’re not yet sure what your effluent looks like, our Flow and Load Surveys service can establish this before you submit.
Further information
- Flow and Load Surveys — understand your effluent strength and volume, including the Mogden formula, before you apply
- Trade Effluent Monitoring Service — ongoing compliance monitoring once your consent is granted
- Environmental Permit Applications
- H1 Risk Assessments — if you’re discharging to ground or a watercourse rather than the foul sewer
- Trade Effluent Performance Audits — independent, expert assessment of how you handle your trade effluent to reduce costs and improve operational performance
